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HANDBOUND 
AT  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
TORONTO  PRESS 


THE    HOUSE 


OF 


COCKBURN  OF  THAT  ILK 


AND 


THE   CADETS    THEREOF: 

WITH  HISTORICAL  ANECDOTES  OF  THE  TIMES  IN  WHICH 
MANY  OF  THE  NAME  PLAYED  A  CONSPICUOUS  PART. 


BY 


THOMAS    H.    COCKBURN-HOOD, 


AUTHOR  OF 


"THE  RUTHIRFURDS  OF  THAT  ILK.1 


EDINBURGH: 

1888. 


EDINBURGH  :    PRINTED    BY  SCOTT   AND    FERGUSON. 


47? 


-3  -9  1966 
1047931 


TO  HIS 
MUCH    ESTEEMED    FRIEND 

MARIANA-AUGUSTA  COCKBURN, 

LADY  HAMILTON  OF  WOODBROOKE, 

REPRESENTATIVE   OF  THE 

BARONIAL  HOUSE  OF  LANGTON, 

AND  TO  HIS  COUSIN 

SIR  THOMAS  COCKBURN-CAMPBELL,   BART. 

OF  GARTSFORD,    MEMBER  AND   CHAIRMAN   OF   COMMITTEES   OF   THE 
LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL  OF  WEST  AUSTRALIA, 

THIS   ACCOUNT    OF    THEIR   ANCESTORS 
IS  DEDICATED. 


IN  this  attempt  to  trace  the  descent  of  the  principal 
branches  of  the  Family  of  Cockburn,  the  author  has 
relied  almost  entirely  upon  the  Public  Records, 
finding  that  the  printed  genealogies  and  MS. 
accounts  of  them  are  singularly  erroneous. 

The  descendants  of  the  Barons  of  that  Ilk  and 
Langton  are,  for  the  most  part,  landless  now ;  but 
there  may  arise  influential  families  of  the  name  in 
the  great  Dominions  of  Canada  and  Australasia,  to 
whom  this  compilation  will  possibly  be  of  service 
in  enabling  them  to  trace  their  descent  from  dis- 
tinguished ancestors.  With  them  might  be  revived 
the  feeling  that  the  glory  of  children  is  their  fathers. 

In  the  old  countries  of  Europe,  the  growth  of 
democracy  and  the  fierce  pursuit  of  wealth  are 
rapidly  annihilating  interest  in  bygone  times,  and 
obliterating  the  memory  of  those  warriors  of  whose 
deeds  men  once  delighted  to  hear.  In  our  own 
land,  admiration  for  the  chivalry  of  the  days  of 
THE  BRUCE  and  WALLACE  was  awakened  for  a 
time  by  the  magic  pen  of  Sir  Walter  Scott;  but 
the  spirit  of  true  romance  has  but  little  fascination 
for  the  rising  generation,  and  in  few  breasts  seem- 
ingly lives  the  sentiment  which  animated  the  circle 
that  sat  entranced  around  the  winter  fire  in  the 
Roman  cottages — 

"  When  with  weeping  and  with  laughter  was  the  story  told, 
How  well  Horatius  kept  the  bridge  in  the  brave  days  of  old." 


Should  this  account  of  the  Cockburns,  who  have 
played,  it  will  be  seen,  no  unimportant  part  in 
Scottish  history,  meet  with  the  approval  accorded 
to  that  of  the  "  Ruthirfurds  of  that  Ilk,"  it  will  be 
in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  encouragement  to 
undertake  it  given  to  the  author  by  his  friends  Mr. 
BURNETT,  Lyon  King-of-Arms,  and  Mr.  DICKSON, 
Curator  of  the  Historical  Department  of  H.M. 
Register  House. 

Since  his  first  adventure  referred  to  was  printed, 
one  to  whom  he  was  much  indebted  —  Mr.  ROBERT 
RIDDLE  STODART,  Lyon  Clerk- Depute — has  passed 
away,  deeply  regretted  by  all  who  had  the  privilege 
of  his  intimate  acquaintance,  and  who  had  ex- 
perienced his  readiness  to  impart  information  from 
his  great  store  of  historical  and  genealogical  know- 
ledge, as  well  as  by  the  public,  in  the  place  he  was 
so  peculiarly  adapted  to  fill. 

The  author  avails  himself  of  the  opportunity  of 
gratefully  expressing  his  sense  of  the  most  important 
help  he  has  received  from  the  Reverend  WALTER 
MACLEOD  in  compiling  this  volume,  and  of  offering 
his  cordial  thanks  to  the  Reverend  Canon  GREEN- 
WELL  of  Durham,  Mr.  WALFORD  D.  SELBY  of  H.M. 
Record  Office,  and  Mr.  W.  DE  GRAY  BIRCH  of  the 
British  Museum,  for  the  courtesy  and  kindness  with 
which  they  have  assisted  him ;  also  to  Mr.  JOSEPH 
BAIN  for  his  valuable  notes ;  from  the  important 
Calendar  of  State  Documents  relating  to  Scotland, 
edited  by  him,  much  of  the  information  is  derived 


that  may  interest  the  general  reader,  who  may 
chance  to  look  into  this  history  of  the  House  of 
Cockburn. 

He  has  also  to  acknowledge  his  obligation  to  the 
Reverend  ALEXANDER  THOMSON  GRANT,  and  to  Mr. 
HARDY,  Secretary  of  the  Berwickshire  Naturalists' 
Club,  for  their  valued  communications. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFATORY   NOTES,  relating  to  the  Merse  in  early  times  —  The 
Bonkills — Sir  David  de  Brechin — Surname  of  Cockburn — Sir 

Anthony  de  la  Bastie,  &c.         .            .            .            .             .  i-xxx 

COCKBURNS  OF  THAT  ILK  AND  LANGTON,             .            .            .  1-86 

THE  ELEVEN  BARONETS  OF  LANGTON,     ....  87-109 

COCKBURNS  OF  ORMISTON,             .....  111-160 

COCKBURNS  OF  HENDERLAND,       .....  161-215 

COCKBURNS  OF  SKIRLING  AND  CESSFORD,            .           .           .  216  256 

COCKBURNS  OK  CLERKINGTON,      .....  257-287 

COCKBURNS  OF  CHOICELEE,           .....  288-306 

COCKBURNS  OF  COCKBURN,            .....  307-330 

COCKBURNS  OF  TORRIE,  DALGINCHE,  AND  TRETTOUN,    .           .  331-351 

NOTES  :  Respecting  Tomb  of  a  Cockburn  at  Coldingham  —  The 
Families  of  de  Vesci,  St.  Andrea,  de  Quinci,  Pennicuik,  &c. — 
Crest  of  the  Hepburnes,  .....  353-358 

APPENDIX  :  Chart  Pedigrees  of  de  Veteriponte,  Lord  of  Westmore- 
land, Ewyas,  and  Clifford,  ....        361-363 
COCKBURN,  called  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  Baronets,  .       364-371 

FACSIMILES. 

DEED  of  RESTITUTION  by  Patrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  to  the  Prior 

and  Convent  of  Durham,  of  the  Ward  of  East  Nesbit,  &c.  .  5 

CHARTER  by  William  de  Veteriponte  [of  Langton]  restoring  to  the 

Monks  of  Coldingham  the  lands  he  had  unjustly  taken  from  them,  22 

CHARTER  by  William  de  Veteriponte  [Primogenitus],  confirming  his 
Father's  Grant  of  the  tenth  of  his  Coal  of  Kareddin,  &c.,  to 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Rood,  Edinburgh,  ...  26 

DEED  of  SALE  by  Adam  of  Little  Reston  to  the  Prior  of  Colding- 
ham of  Adam,  Son  of  Thurkill,  Serf,  .  .  .  .  51 

DEED  of  SALE  by  Bertram,  Son  of  Adam  of  Little  Reston,  to  the 
Prior  and  Convent  of  Coldingham,  of  Turkill  Hog  and  his 
Children,  Serfs,  ......  52 

CHARTER  by  Thomas  de  Melsonby,  Prior  of  Coldingham,  to  John 

of  Hunsinghoure,  of  a  Carucate  of  Land  in  Renington,  .  353 


ERRATA. 


Page  iii.  line  n,for  long  gone  read  now  gone. 

xvi.    ,,     6,  for  knights,  read  knight. 
„     ,,      ,,  2%,  for  uncles,  read  grand-uncles,  as  in  page  65. 

xvii.    ,,    id,  for  Chandmella  razrf  Chaudmella. 
„     xx.    ,,    28,  for  Harry  as  his,  r,ad  Harry  or  his. 
„  xxiv.    ,,     T,,for  the  same— Ermine,  &c.,  read  the  same  as  those  of  William 

de  Soulis,  ermine  three  bars. 
4,    ,.   19,  y<""  affixed  his  seal  of  arms  to,  read  he  was  also  witness  to 

another  charter  by. 

30,  for  Seal  of  William  de  Veteri-Ponte,  A.D.  1200,  read  1244. 

„     32>    ..     9>  for  Anina,  read  Alina. 
„     41,    ,,   32,  for  1334  read  1384. 

43.    ..     2>  Ar  ne  married  Marjorie,  read  he  married,  secondly,  Marjorie. 
45,   .,  22,  >r  unhappy  Duke  of  Albany,  read  the  late  Duke  of  Albany, 

as  at  page  115. 

,,     48,    „     2,  for  Alexander  read  Archibald,  as  in  line  13. 
,i       »     i>     7>  for  Lanak  read  Lanark. 

>,      55i    »    26, /or  and  is  mentioned,  r«n/  though  not  mentioned. 
,,     64,    „     I, /or  del  read  din. 

„     68,    „  21,  commas  wanting  after  William,  and  James. 
„     79,   „  26,  _/<w  observations  read  observation. 
„     82,     „   32,  for  his  rrarf  her  fourth  cousin. 
,,    127.    »»   33.  for  Alice  Heath's  son,  read  John  Heath's  son  John. 
„    171,    „   28, /or  Chastell  de  Hamlye,  read  As  Hambye. 
,,    184,   „   10,  for  lanigerarum    le    Wedderis,  read   lanigerarum,    viz.,  le 

Wedderis. 

'99>   >>   '4i  l$'for  Romannos,  read  Romanno. 
,,     „      „  16, /or  Cu\ross,  rtad  Cvliop. 
,,   212,   „     8,  for  in  1596  had  been,  read  they  had  been. 
,,   223,   ,,  36,  for  jure  uxores  read  uxoris. 


M  Z,  R  C  E, 


or   SKirre£dom.e    of 


GERMATSTICVS 


PREFATORY   NOTES. 


THE  Merce,  or  Merse,  may  vie  with  Cheshire,  in 
England,  as  a  Seed-Plot  of  Gentry. 

It  is  separated,  says  one  writer,  "  from  the  country 
of  the  Forth,  which  far  excells  all  the  rest  in  the 
civility  of  its  inhabitants,  and  in  plenty  of  all  things 
for  the  use  of  life,  by  the  hills  of  the  Lammermoors 
and  Cockburn's-peth  or  Forest." 

Nevertheless,  this  "  marcia,"  or  march-land,  lying 
between  the  Tueda  Flumen  and  these  Lamyrios 
Monies,  as  a  celebrated  old  geographer  styles  this 
somewhat  bleak,  low  range  of  hills,  has  supported,  as 
stated  in  his  "  Theatrum  Scotiae,"  on  its  fertile  plain 
a  large  population,  industrious  in  peace,  most  deter- 
mined in  war,  who,  divided  from  them  by  a  river  of 
but  moderate  size,  have  defended  their  own  most 
bravely  against  the  English. 

Although  of  the  majority  of  the  most  ancient 
families  who  possessed  the  Border- Land  "  the  name 
only  remaynes,  the  land  in  others,"  the  fields  of  the 
Merse  [or  Berwick-shire]  have  not  proved  altogether 
"  so  skittish  and  apt  to  cast  their  owners,"  as  old  Fuller 


11 

says  those  of  the  English  county  with  similar  sound- 
ing name — Berkshire — had  done.  Although  of  the 
names  which  were  in  days  of  yore  few  remain  here 
of  a  great  store,  still  not  an  inconsiderable  number 
of  those  that  were  of  "  a  great  store  "  on  the  marches 
remain  still  prominent.  A  fair  proportion  continue 
to  hold  part,  at  least,  of  their  ancestral  territories, 
whilst  others  have  transplanted  themselves,  and 
have  flourished  greatly  on  northern  soils,  giving  the 
names  their  ancestors  assumed  from  their  earliest 
possessions  there,  to  their  new  acquisitions,  such  as 
the  powerful  house  of  Gordon,  whose  progenitors 
occupied  the  lands  now  forming  the  parish  of  Gordon, 
on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  Lamyrios  Monies,  in 
which  is  the  ancient  hamlet  of  Huntly,  where  a 
single  tree  grows  near  the  spot  where  stood  the 
castle  of  Adam  de  Gurdoune,  mighty  strong  in  the 
"  grate  wode,"  and  "  the  ladye  built  the  chappell  of 
Huntlie  in  the  same  place  where  the  borr  was  slayne 
in  King  Malcolm  Canmore  hys  days." 

In  King  Malcolm's  days  the  denizens  of  this  dis- 
trict slew  many  wild  boars,  for  the  forests  swarmed 
with  them  ;  and  being  the  favourite  objects  of  the 
chase,  the  boar's  head  was  assumed  as  their  device 
of  arms  by  the  Gordons,  the  Swintons,  and  the 
families  of  Nisbet,  Redpath,  and  Duns,  &c.,  who 
took  name  from  their  respective  territories,  which 
lay  contiguous  in  the  shire  of  Berwick,  "and  carried 
three  boars  heads  of  different  tinctures,  by  which  it 
seems  that  the  tradition  is  probable  that  they  were 
originally  of  one  stock  or  gens,  and  afterwards 
edit  1722,  became  the  heads  of  families  of  different  surnames. 
Their  antiquity  appears  in  the  charters  of  our 
ancient  Kings,  Edgar,  Alexander,  and  David,  the 


Ill 


sons  of  King  Malcolm  Canmore,  to  the  church  of 
Durham  and  abbacy  of  Coldingham."  On  the 
eastern  march  the  ancient  family,  who  were  Lords 
of  Bonkill  or  Bonekylschyre,  carried  buckles  relative 
to  their  name,  Mr.  Nisbet  remarks,  and  this  figure 
is  found  in  the  arms  of  the  Lumisdens  and  other 
families  in  that  district,  as  well  as  of  the  Cockburns. 
Alexander  de  Cokburn  in  1 340  used  a  seal  in  which 
the  buckle  appears  between  the  three  cocks.  It 
could  not  have  been  "  as  ane  tockin  of  perpetual 
band  of  friendship,"  for  the  Bonkills  were  long  gone 
from  the  land,  so  was  doubtless  placed  to  mark  his 
descent. 

In  far  bygone  times  the  Princes  of  Northumbria 
held  sway  over  the  border  county,  and  in  their  great 
castle,  built  at  the  confluence  of  the  Tweed  and 
Teviot,  in  the  centre  of  the  old  Saxon  kingdom, 
received  their  dues  from  the  inhabitants  "  de  la 
Merche  and  Coldynhinschyre."  The  people  on 
both  sides  of  the  Tweed,  being  of  the  same  race  for 
the  most  part,  then  lived  in  amity,  and  had  not 
begun  to  look  upon  each  other  as  natural  enemies, 
as  Mr.  Innes  observes,  when  David,  Prince  of 
Cumbria,  afterwards  King  of  Scots,  ruled  in  peace 
all  Northumbria  to  the  Tees,  whilst  England  to  the  Liter  de 
south  of  that  river  was  distracted  during  the  reign  c>10"'  pref- 
of  Stephen  by  the  troubles  so  vividly  related  by  its 
chroniclers.  This  able  and  powerful  monarch — "  sair 
saint  for  the  Crown,"  as  he  has  been  termed  in  con- 
sequence of  his  lavish  expenditure  in  building  abbeys 
and  religious  houses  of  various  importance — saw  the 
influences  he  thus  brought  to  bear  were  the  most 
potent  in  the  civilisation  of  the  rude  inhabitants  of 
his  kingdom.  The  Castle  of  Merch  or  Roxburgh 


IV 


Haddington's 
Collections. 


was  his  favourite  residence,  and  close  by  he  built  the 
"  nobill  abbay  "  on  the  bank  of  the  Tweed  "  at  the 
place  called  Calkou." 

The  country  in  his  time  extending  from  that  river 
to  the  Forth  bore  the  general  designation  of 
Loudonia.  The  "  Tueda  flumen"  was  then  spoken 
of  as  dividing  Northumbria  from  Loidane  [Lothian], 
and  in  a  charter  of  this  king  to  Coldingham  are 
mentioned,  "  omnes  terras  quas  habent  in  Colding- 
ham, Reston,  Eitun,  Swynton,  Lumisdane,  Prender- 
gast,  Paxton  in  Laudonio. 

Gospatricius  Comes  was  Vice-Comes  within  its 
boundaries  in  the  year  1126,  the  date  of  the  charter 
above  referred  to.  Like  him,  many  of  the  great 
proprietors  held  extensive  estates  on  both  sides  of 
the  Tweed  ;  others  besides  the  de  Vetere-Pontes 
possessed  territories  in  Cumberland  or  Cumbria,  as 
well  as  in  the  Merse. 

Gospatricius,  or  Ouaspatricius  as  his  name  is 
sometimes  written,  was  of  the  noblest  Saxon  blood. 
"His  mother,  Aldgitha,  was  the  granddaughter  of 
King  ./Ethelred,  and  his  father,  Maldred,  son  of 
Crinan  the  Thane,  seems  to  have  been  brother  as 
well  as  neighbour  of  the  gracious  Duncan,  who  was 
King  of  Cumbria  for  about  sixteen  years  before  he 
Scottish  Arms,  succeeded  his  maternal  grandfather,  Malcolm  II.,  as 
chron.Meiros,  King  of  Scotland  on  25th  November  1034."  Gos- 
'56-  patric,  who  had  been  made  Earl  of  Northumberland 

by  William  the  Conqueror  in  1067,  disgusted  with 
the  Norman  government,  came  with  other  magnates 
into  Scotland,  after  having  led  all  the  power  of 
Northumbria  to  the  aid  of  the  Danish  invaders  and 
stormed  York,  putting  the  Norman  garrison  to  the 
sword,  and  received  from  Malcolm  Canmore  "  Dun- 


Note  by  A. 


bar  and  the  lands  adjacent  in  Lothian."     He  made 
friends   again  with  the  Conqueror,  and,  it  is  stated, 
"invaded  and  ravaged  the  King  of  Scots'  province 
of  Cumbria."     From  him  descended  the  great  Earls 
of  Dunbar  and  March,  and  from  them  the  Earls  of 
Home.     The  house  of  Dundas  is  also  supposed  to 
be  of  the  same  race.     Towards   the   close  of  the  p'  s°' 
twelfth  century  the  lands  of  Dundas  were  granted  by 
Waldeve,  son  of  Gospatric,  to  Helias,  son  of  Uchtred, 
whose    descendants    took    name    therefrom.       No 
doubt  other  scions  of  this  great  Saxon  race  founded 
families  whose  origin  is  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiquity. 
Camden  says  that  the  Culwens  or  Corwens  of  Gallo-  Camden's 
way    descended    directly    from    Gospatric    himself,  Voiit"p.1oio. 
and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  the  progenitor  of 
the  Bonkills,  Lords  of  Bonkill  in  the  Merse,  was  of 
the  same  blood.      From  very  remote  times  they  are 
found  holding  extensive  estates  on  both  sides  of  the 
Borders,   and    took    name   from    the   territory  they 
acquired  in  the  Merse,  known  as  Bonekylschyre  in  Raine's  North 
the  time  of  King  Edgar.     It  marched  with  Coldin-  £S£&^ 
hinschyre.     Part  of  it  now  constitutes  the  parish  of  j^11*™'  p.  4, 
Buncle.     Their    English    estates   lay  principally  in 
Cumberland.     On    i2th   March    1218,    Henry  III. 
ordered    the  Sheriff  of   Cumberland   to  restore   to 
Ranulf  de  Bonkille  his  chattels,  "  as  he  had  come  to 
his  allegiance  on  the  same  day  as  Alexander,  King  of  Bain's 
Scotland."     His  descendant,  Alesaundre  de  Bone- 
kill  [written  also  Bonequil],  was  Seneschal  of  Scot- 
land in   1291,  and  was  one  of  the  auditors  who  re- 
ported that  the  competitors  Bruce  and  Baliol  had  so 
concluded  their  pleading  that  the  King  might  pro- 
ceed to  judgment.     The   "  magnates  Scotise "  who 
appeared  on   that  occasion    "  devaunt   le  tresnoble 


VI 


Sir  Francis  Prince,  le  Seignor  Edward  par  le  grace  de  Dieu  Roi 
Coiiectaiua,  d'Engleterre  et  soverain  Seigneur  d'Escoce,"  were 
vol.  L,  P.  197-  Alesaundre  de  Ergyl,  Andrew  de  Moreff,  Herebt 
de  Makwell,  Malcolm  Conte  de  Levenax,  William 
de  la  Haye,  Wautier  de  Lindessay,  Michel  de 
Wymes,  Nichol  de  la  Haye,  Johan  de  Lindessay, 
Robert  Bruce  Conte  de  Carick,  James,  Seneschal  of 
Scotland  (the  Lord  High  Steward),  John,  his  brother, 
Sir  William  Douglas,  and  Sir  Alexander  Lindessay, 
who  all  submitted  unconditionally  to  Edward  in  the 
twenty-fifth  year  of  his  reign. 

Sir  David  de  Brechin,  nephew  of  ROBERT  THE 
BRUCE,  married  Margaret,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of 
this  Sir  Alexander  de  Bonkill.  On  the  ;th  July  1304 
Bain's  Calm-  King  Edward  gave  orders  to  his  chancellor  "  that  as 
pa4ia01'  ""  David  de  Breghyn,  and  Margaret,  his  wife,  Scottish 
rebels,  had  come  to  his  peace,  and  David  had  done 
homage  and  fealty,  the  English  lands  of  Alexander 
Bonkyll,  father  of  Margaret,  whose  heir  she  was, 
should  be  restored  to  them."  It  has  generally  been 
assumed  that  Sir  John  Stewart,  the  gallant  brother 
of  James,  the  Lord  High  Steward,  who  had  been 
compelled  to  swear  fealty  to  King  Edward  with  the 
other  magnates  of  the  kingdom,  and  who  was 
knighted  for  his  gallantry  in  an  affray  with  the  Percy, 
obtained  the  barony  by  marriage  with  "  Margaret,  the 
Nisbet's  aire  of  Bonkle,  ane  virgine  of  gret  beawtie."  The 

Heraldry,  edit. 

1722,  p.  401.  date  of  their  marriage  has  been  stated  to  be  about 
1  294.  But  it  must  have  been  considerably  earlier,  for 
Sir  John  fell  at  Falkirk  in  1298,  leaving  six  sons,  and 
probably  other  daughters  besides  Isobel,  married  to 
Ranulph,  commonly  written  Randolph,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Moray.  David  de  Brechin  certainly  pos- 
sessed part  of  his  wife's  estates  in  the  county  of 


Vll 


Berwick,  as  well  as  in  England.     Amongst  the  peti-  s>r  Francis 

,,.  -^  ,  i     r        i         i  '     -rr  i       Palgrave's 

tioners  to  King   Edward  for  lands   was   Ketyl   de 


Letham  [Leitholm]  vie  Berwick,  who  asked  for  p'  291' 
divers  properties,  amongst  them  those  which  he  had 
by  "  le  feffement  Johan  de  Letham  jadis  son  piere 
devant  le  dite  guerre  comence  et  ausint  des  terres 
et  des  tenementes  q'il  tint  de  son  p.  chaz  p.  my  le 
feffement  David  de  Breghyn  puis  le  comencement 
de  la  guerre  avantdite." 

The  Lord  of  Brechyn  made  his  submission  on  3Oth 
May  1297:  "Come  nostre  chier  Seigneur  Edward,  par 
la  grace  de  Dieu  Roi  d'Engleterre,  Seigneur  d'  I  rlandet 
Dues  de  Aquitaine,  .  .  .  juray  sur  Seyntes  Evangeiles, 
me  eit  otroie  de  sa  grace  d.  aler  en  Escoce  pur  moy 
apparailler  pur  li  servir  selonc  mon  poer  en  ceste 
guerre  qu.  il  ad  au  Roi  de  France.  Don.  a  Maghefeld. 
le  trentisme  jour  du  May  Tan  du  regne  nostre  Seig- 
neur le  Roi  avantdit  vintisme  quint."  Robert  de 
Brus,  Earl  of  Carrick,  William  de  Douglas,  Alex- 
ander de  Lindesei  made  their  submission  gth  July 
following,  and  David  de  Wemis  and  his  wife  Marjorie 
came  to  Edward's  peace,  and  had  their  lands  restored 
at  the  same  time. 

The    melancholy  fate  of  "  Gud  Schyr  Dawy  off  Barbour's 

T>I  i  1111  •        »  111    Bruce,  buke 

Brechyn  that  to  behald  was  gret  pity,    was  deplored  threttene,  415, 

throughout  Scotland.     "  That  brave  young  man  had  andz"/ro- 

served  with  reputation  against  the  Saracens  ;  to  him 

the  conspirators,  having  exacted  an  oath  of  secrecy, 

had  revealed  their  plot.     He  condemned  the  under-  Sir  David  Dai- 

11-11  •  111         rymple's 

taking,  and  refused  to  share  in  it,  yet,  entangled  by  Annals,  vol. 
his  fatal  oath,  concealed  the  treason.      Notwithstand-  "^  96>  edlt' 
ing  his  relation  to  the   Royal  Family,  his  personal 
merits,  and  the  favourable  circumstances  of  his  case, 
he  was  made  an  example  of  rigorous  justice."     "  The 


Vlll 

King  would  fane  that  he  had  been  sauffit,  nochthe- 

less  he  was  sa  rigorous  on  the  laif  that  it  micht  not 

be  esaly  done,  and  becaus  na  man  labourit  for  him, 

he  was  heidit  with  gret  lament  of  pepill,  for  he  was 

halden  the  floure  of  chevalry,  and  had  fochten  money 

yeiris  afore  with  gret  honour  and  victory  aganis  the 

Beiienden's      Turkis."      His   trial    took  place  at  the    Parliament 

CH°Kt^lBoL,    assembled  at  Scone,  August  1330,  commonly  known 

vol.  ii.,  p.  399.  as  t^  Black  Parliament,  when  so  many  suffered  for 

being  concerned  in  this  atrocious  plot,  which  had  no 

doubt  as  its  object  to  compass  the  death  of  the  heroic 

Robert  Bruce  : 

Harbour's  "  And  to  bruk  eftre  his  dede 

threttene?  v?,  The  Kynrik>  an^  to  ryng  in  hys  steid, 

365.  The  Lord  Soullis  Schyr  Wilyam." 

So  Sir  David  de  Brechin  "  jugyt  to  hang  and  draw 
was  he,"  whilst  the  Parliament  spared  Sir  William, 
the  Lord  of  Liddesdale's  life,  and  condemned  him  to 
end  his  days  in  Dumbarton  Castle,  instead  of  upon 
the  throne  to  which  he  aspired,  as  his  grandfather 
Sir  Nicholas  had  done,  being  one  of  the  competitors 
in  1292,  claiming  it  in  right  of  his  descent  from  Mar- 
jorie,  a  daughter  of  Alexander  II.,  and  wife  of  Alan 
Durward,  Justiciar  of  the  Kingdom.  Sir  William  de 
Soulis  merited  his  sentence,  which,  however,  was  a 
severe  one  to  have  been  passed  upon  the  Countess 
of  Stratherne,  who  revealed  the  plot  and  saved  the 
King's  life. 

When  in  June  1308  Sir  James  Douglas  made 
Ranulph  [or  Randolph],  another  nephew  of  THE 
BRUCE,  who  was  still  on  the  English  side,  prisoner, 
he  found  that  in  his  company 

Ibid.,  buke  «  Off  Bonkle  the  Lord  there  was 

Alysander  Stuart  hat  he," 


IX 

who  could  only  have  been  a  lad  of  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  of  age,  according  to  the  date  usually  assigned 
for  the  marriage  of  his  father  with  Margaret,  heiress 
of  Sir  Alexander  de  Bonkill. 

Doubts  have  very  naturally  been  entertained  by 
able  students  of  the  history  of  this  period  about  the 
alleged  marriage  of  Sir  John  Stuart  with  this  Mar- 
garet, who  received  with  her  husband,  David  de 
Brechin,  from  Edward  in  1304  restitution  of  her 
father's  lands  of  Ulvedale,  &c.,  in  Cumberland.  The 
editor  of  Harbour's  Bruce  [the  learned  compiler  of  the  Harbour's 

T-V      •  rir-  -IT  -i  •    i  Bruce,  note, 

Dictionary  of  the  Scottish  Language]  certainly  errs  page  449. 
in  thinking  that  "  Alysander  "  Stuart  was  the  Lord 
of  Bonkill  whose  name  is  found  on  the  Ragman 
Roll.  This  was  Margaret's  own  father,  Sir  Alex- 
ander Bonkill,  who  was  alive  in  1 300,  and  therefore, 
as  Mr.  Bain  justly  observes  in  the  preface  to  his 
invaluable  Calendar,  "  Sir  John  the  Steward  [second 
son  of  Alexander  the  Lord  Steward],  generally 
styled  of  Bonkill,  could  only  have  been  so  in 
expectancy,"  and  Margaret,  with  a  family  of  eight 
or  nine  children,  could  not  have  been  a  very 
juvenile  widow  when  she  married  the  "gallant 
youth"  Sir  David,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  calls  him 
when  noticing  the  rebuke  given  by  the  indignant 
Sir  Ingram  de  Umfraville,  a  favourite  follower  of 
Robert  Bruce.  "  Why  press  ye,"  he  said  to  the 
people  who  crowded  to  the  execution  to  see  the 
dismal  catastrophe  of  so  generous  a  knight,  "  I  have 
seen  ye  throng  as  eagerly  around  him  to  share  his 
bounty,  as  now  to  behold  his  death  ; "  with  these 
words  he  turned  him  from  the  scene  of  blood,  and 
repairing  to  the  King,  craved  leave  to  sell  his  Scottish 
possessions,  and  to  retire  from  the  country.  "My 

B 


Bain's  Calen- 
dar of  Docu- 
ments relating 
to  Scotland, 
vol.  ii.,  pre- 
face, p.  58. 


int.,  pp.  206,  man 

207,214. 


heart  will  not  for  the  wealth  of  the  world  permit  me 
to  dwell  any  longer  where  I  have  seen  such  a  knight 
die  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner."  With  the 
King's  leave  he  interred  the  body  of  David  de 
Brechin,  sold  his  lands,  and  left  Scotland  for  ever. 
This  tragedy  was  enacted  in  1320.  Margaret  de 
Bonkill  did  not,  happily  for  her,  live  to  see  that 
day,  as  she  died  in  September  1304.  There  is  a 
note  quoted  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioners  on 
Historical  MSS.,  in  which  it  is  stated  in  the  record  of 
a  dispute  about  the  presentation  by  the  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  to  the  church  of  Ulvedale,  "  that  Margaret's 
heir  by  John  Steward  was  a  minor,  that  she  had 
married  David  de  Brechin  under  a  papal  dispensa- 
tion, and  had  issue  by  him,  and  that  he  survived  her." 
It  seems,  nevertheless,  very  unaccountable  that  when 
her  mother  Crestiene  petitioned  Edward  I.  for  her 
dower  three  months  after  her  husband  Sir  Alexander 
de  Bonkill's  death,  no  mention  should  have  been  made 
of  the  heir  to  the  estates  being  the  young  son  of  Sir 
John  Stewart,  and  that  when  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
mission was  given  in,  after  inquisition  had  been  taken 
regarding  Sir  Alexander's  lands  in  Cumberland,  and 
it  was  stated  that  his  heir  Margaret  remains  with  the 
enemy  in  Scotland,  that  nothing  should  have  been 
said  about  her  being  the  widow  of  this  Sir  John. 

Besides  Sir  Alexander,  several  other  scions  of  the 
family  had  to  sign  the  deed  of  homage,  showing  the 
position  of  the  Bonkyls  at  this  time.  On  the  Rag- 
Roll  are  inscribed  the  names  of  Johan  de 
Bonekel,  Anneys  de  Bonkhille  del  counte  de  Ber- 
wick, and  Thomas  Bonequil,  of  same  county,  all  on 
the  28th  August  1296. 


XI 

What  became  of  these  important  personages  is  not 
recorded, — their  names  appear  no  more  ;  but  it  is 
thus  evident  that  the  ancient  heritage  had  given  the 
surname  to  their  race,  which  continued  for  a  long 
time.  Johannes  de  Boncle  was  a  witness  to  the 
agreement  made  2d  July  1449  with  Henry  VI.  by 
James  II.,  to  abstain  from  war.  His  seal,  appended 
thereto,  bore  "  three  buckles  on  a  chevron,  the  shield, 
supported  by  an  angel's  wings  expanded,  surrounded 
by  clouds."  James  IV.  gave  a  charter  "  familiaro  suo 
servitore"  Johanni  Lindesay  [son  of  John  Lindsay  Keg.  Great 
of  Collyntoun  or  Covinton]  and  Mariota  Bonkle,  his 
wife,  of  half  the  lands  of  Redehewis  in  1503.  Adam 
de  Bonkill  was  a  man  of  good  position  in  Edinburgh  mj.,  NOS.  34 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  and  Radulfus  de  Bonencle  l°5' 
was  his  contemporary.  Several  of  the  descendants 
were  prominent  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  treasurers  ntd.,  vol.  iv., 
and  consuls  of  that  city,  in  succeeding  reigns.  In 
1558  the  Queen  granted  letters  of  legitimation  to 
"  Dominus  Michael  Bonkill,"  whose  father,  Thomas, 
was  a  person  of  influence  in  Dunbar. 

The  surname  of  Cockburn  is  one  of  the  oldest  in 
Scotland,  and  has  generally  been  deemed  territorial, 
having  been  adopted,  it  is  said,  from  lands  so  called, 
which  the  ancestor  acquired  in  the  Merse.  Through  Cockburn 
them  ran  a  small  stream,  the  Cok-Burn,  which  falls 
into  the  River  Whitadder,  near  the  foot  of  the  hill 
now  called  Cockburn-Law.  These  lands,  whether 
they  gave  name  to  the  owner  or  not — a  matter  open  to 
doubt — lay  in  the  Bonkyl  country,  and  may  have  been 
acquired  by  the  progenitor  of  the  race  by  marriage 
with  a  daughter  of  the  then  Lord  of  Bonekyllschire, 
hard  by  whose  castle  was  built  the  Cockburn's  tower. 
The  patriarch  of  the  Cockburns  came,  according  to 


Xll 

Hector  Boece,  with  the  crowd  of  English  colonists 
who  crossed  the  Tweed  after  the  marriage  of  Mal- 
colm Canmore  with  the  Saxon  Princess  Margaret, 
sister  of  Edgar  Atheling.  These  new  colonists,  the 
able  and  learned  historiographer  Cosmo  Innes  re- 
marks, in  his  preface  to  the  "  Origines  Parochiales," 
were  of  what  we  should  call  "  the  upper  classes  "  of 
Anglican  families  long  settled  in  Northumbria,  and 
Normans  of  the  highest  blood  and  names,  men  of 
the  sword,  above  all  servile  and  mechanical  employ- 
ment. They  were  fit  for  the  society  of  a  court,  and 
many  of  them  became  chosen  companions  of  our 
princes."  Many  of  them,  according  to  the  old  Canon 
of  Aberdeen,  were  with  that  "  nobill  man  Lord 
Patrick  of  Dumbar,"  when 

"  At  Colbrand's  peth  the  Captane  Carle  he  killed, 
And  sax  hundreth  of  his  men  into  the  field." 

Archdeacon         "  Malcolm  Canmore,  be  support  of  Edward,  King 

Bellenden's  f  T        1        J  •      u-  •  -  •         r 

Hector  Boece.  oi  Ingland,  recovcreit  his  realme  in  the  via.  yeir  of 
the  reign  of  the  said  Edward,  and  was  crownit  at 
Scone  the  xxv'h  day  of  Aprile  from  the  Incar- 
nacioune  MLXI.  yeris.  He  made  a  general  conven- 
tioun  of  his  nobils  that  assisted  him  aganis  Macbeth. 
.  .  .  He  maid  mony  Erlis,  baronis,  and  knichtis, 
mony  of  thame  that  war  thanis  afore  was  maid  Erlis, 
as  Fif,  Menteith,  Athol,  Lennox,  Murray,  Cathnes, 
Ros,  and  Angus.  Thir  war  the  first  Erlis  amang 
us,  as  our  croniklis  beris.  Many  new  surnames 
come  at  this  time."  Amongst  those  he  enumerates 
are  Dundas  and  Cokburn. 

The  patriarch  of  the  latter  patrician  family  may,  as 
suggested,  have  been  one  of  those  distinguished 
colonists  who  came  into  England  in  King  Malcolm's 
reign,  as  he  was  apparently  a  contemporary.  He  or 


Xlll 


his  descendants  may  also  have  placed  the  cock  upon 
their  shield  in  reference  to  the  name  assumed  from 
their  lands,  but  they  may  have  been  one  of  those 
old  families  who  gave  their  own  names  to  their  pos- 
sessions. We  cannot  say.  The  prow  of  Colbrand's 
galley  may  have  had  carved  upon  it  that  "  emblem  of 
watchfulness  and  herauld  of  the  approaching  day,  and 
for  its  nature  and  royalty  is  enseigned  with  a  diadem, 
singular  for  its  valour  and  mirth  after  victory." 
The  cock  has  been  a  favourite  device  of  arms 
amongst  nations  generally,  from  remote  antiquity. 
The  great  Daimios  of  Japan  bore  it  long  before  the 
days  of  Colbrand.  Whoever  the  author  of  the  race 
was,  his  descendants  are  found,  A.D.  1200  or  there- 
abouts, men  of  position,  powerful  barons  of  knightly 
rank,  holding  lands  in  various  counties.  Langton, 
which  was  adjacent  to  their  earliest  possessions,  was 
the  seat  of  the  chief  from  the  time  that  Sir  Alexander 
de  Cokburn  got  it  in  David  the  Second's  reign, 
with  the  hand  of  the  heiress  of  the  great  Norman 
house  of  de  Vetere  Ponte  down  to  1757,  when  hard 
fate  deprived  Sir  James,  the  seventh  Baronet,  of  his 
heritage.  During  the  centuries  that  rolled  by,  from 
the  day  Sir  Alexander  received  from  his  patron 
King  David  the  important  office  of  Ostiarius  Parlia- 
ment}, to  be  held  by  him  and  his  heirs  forever,  down 
to  that  which  saw  his  lineal  descendant  Sir  Alexander 
take  his  seat  as  Lord  Chief- Justice  of  England, 
there  are  few  intervals  in  the  history  of  their  country 
in  which  the  name  of  at  least  one  of  the  Cockburns  is 
not  found  prominently  mentioned,  either  as  soldier, 
sailor,  diplomatist,  statesman,  or  lawyer. 

They  are    sometimes  certainly   found    concerned 
with    proceedings    equally    lawless    as    barbarous. 


XIV 

Allowance  has  to  be  made,  however,  for  circum- 
stances that  naturally  excited  the  fiercest  passions  of 
men  living  in  times  of  incessant  wars  and  bitter 
private  feuds,  carried  on  more  majorum,  which  seemed 
to  them  but  fit  and  proper.  It  would  have  taxed 
the  powers  of  persuasion  and  the  eloquence, 
nevertheless,  of  the  most  brilliant  legal  luminaries 
that  have  risen  amongst  the  Cockburns, — the  late 
Chief-Justice  of  England,  Adam  Lord  Ormiston, 
and  John  of  Ormiston,  Lord  Justice-Clerks,  had  they 
lived  in  those  days,  to  have  swayed  a  jury  to  acquit 
William  Cockburn,  his  brother-in-law  Sir  David 
Home  of  Wedderburn  and  their  accomplices,  of  the 
murder  of  Sir  Anthony  de  la  Bastie.  Possibly  a 
Henry  Lord  Cockburn  might  by  his  wit  and 
ingenuity  have  so  bamboozled  twelve  of  his  own 
countrymen,  that  they  might  have  found  in  William 
Cockburn's  case  a  verdict  of  not  proven.  The 
unfortunate  French  knight  had  often  shown  himself 
brave  as  he  was  handsome,  as  on  an  occasion,  whilst 
he  acted  as  Regent  in  the  Duke  of  Albany's  absence 
in  France,  when  William  Meldrum,  Laird  of  Binns, 
was  mercilessly  attacked  by  Lucas  Striveling  of 
Keir,  "  who  envied  the  love  and  marriage  between 
him  and  a  fair  lady  Glenagis,  daughter  of  the  Laird  of 
Humbie.  The  Regent  Monsieur  Delabatie  incon- 
tinently gart  strike  an  alarm  bell,  and  blew  his 
trumpets,  and  rang  the  common  bell,  commanding 
all  men  to  follow  him.  .  .  .  The  Laird  of  Meldrum 
fought  cruelly  againis  the  Laird  of  Keir,  and  slew 
twenty-six  of  his  men ;  but,  nevertheless,  through 
multiplication  of  his  enemies,  he  was  overset  and 
driven  to  the  earth,  and  left  lying  for  deid,  nought  of 
his  legs,  stricken  through  the  body,  and  the  knobs  of 


XV 


bis  elbows  stricken  from  him,  yet  by  the  mighty 
power  of  God  escaped  death  and  lived  fifty  years 
thereafter.  So  Delabatie  past  fiercely  after  his 
enemies  and  over-hyed  them  at  Linlithgow,  . 
and  lap  manfully  about  the  Peel-house  they  were  in, 
and  took  it,  ...  and  syne  the  Regent  passed  to  the 
Merse."  Thir  Novils  had  come  to  him  from  there 
(to  use  this  quaintest  of  historians,  Robert  Lindsay 
of  Pitscottie's,  favourite  expression)  that  disturbances 
had  taken  place  amongst  the  Cockburns,  and  that 
the  young  heir  had  been  turned  out  of  his  castle  with 
his  guardians  by  his  uncle  William  Cockburn  and 
his  brother-in-law  Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn, 
and  his  brethren -//^?  Seven  Spears  of  Wedderburn 
[for  although  the  eldest  brother,  George,  fell  with  his 
father  at  Flodden,  there  were  still  seven  sons  remain- 
ing, according  to  Hume  of  Godscroft,  the  eighth  son 
being  Bartholomew].  De  la  Bastie  had  now  been 
bold  enough  to  fill  Lord  Hume's  place  as  warden, 
who  had  been  judicially  murdered  by  the  hated  Duke 
of  Albany,  but  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  chivalrous  Frenchman 
had  in  any  way  been  an  adviser  in  the  matter. 

We  cannot  tell,  however,  what  causes  may  have 
roused  the  thirst  for  vengeance  to  an  ungovernable 
pitch  in  the  breasts  of  the  redoubted  chieftain  Sir 
David  Home  and  his  relatives.  There  may  have 
been  other  circumstances  besides  their  desire  to 
revenge  the  death  of  their  chief,  the  Lord  Home, 
upon  the  man  whom  they  may  have  deemed  the 
instigator  of  his  being  done  to  death,  and  now  the 
shameless  usurper  of  his  office.  We  can  but  surmise 
what  may  have  passed  during  their  conversation  on 
Langton  Green  on  the  i  ;th  September  1517.  The 


XVI 


impetuous  and  haughty  Sieur  de  la  Beaute,  as  David 
Scott  and  some  other  old  writers  call  him,  may  have 
indulged  in  contemptuous  expressions,  such  as  those 
fiery  spirits  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  ill  could 
brook,  and  spoken  to  them  as  to  untutored  bucolical 
Juvenals,  or  the  gay  and  attractive  knights  may  have 
given  Sir    David   and  his  family  graver  cause  for 
seeking  revenge.      Be  this  as  it  may,  it  was  a  ruthless 
deed.     There  is  no  doubt  that  some  of  the  Cockburns 
were  present  when,  as  the  historian  quoted  before 
says,  "  Monsieur  Delabatie  tried  to  escape,  and  fled 
to  the  Castle  of  Dumbar,  thinking  to  win  the  same 
because  his    horse  was  good.     Notwithstanding  all 
was  for  nought,  he  being  a  stranger,  and  knew  not 
the  gait,  laired  his  horse  into  a  flow-moss,  when  he 
could  not  get  out,  till  his  enemies  came  upon  him, 
and  murdered  him,  and  verie  vnhonestly  cutted  off 
his  heid,  and  took  it  with  them,  and  because  his  hair 
was  long  like  women's,  and  plat  on  a  head-lace,  David 
Hume  of  Wedderburn  knitted  it  on  his  saddle-bow  ;  " 
and  so  they  rode  with  it  to  Hume  Castle,  and  there 
placed  it  on  the  point  of  a  spear  upon  the  highest 
battlement.      Very   possibly   James    Cockburn,  the 
young  heir  of  Langton,  witnessed    the  scene,  and 
though  a  mere  boy  at  the  time,  his  feelings  would 
naturally  be  strong,  for  the   Lord   Home   and    his 
brother  William  Home,  executed  by  Albany,  were 
his  uncles,  and  he  knew  how  the  Regent  had  seized 
the  castle  and  ravaged  the  lands  of  Home. 

The  matrimonial  alliances  with  the  Homes  did  not 
prevent  serious  quarrels  between  the  families ;  for 
whilst  the  heathenish  custom  of  deadly  feud  pre- 
vailed, relationship  only  intensified  their  bitterness, 
and,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  makes  the  Monk  of  Melrose 


XVlt 


say,  "It  were  endless  to  count  up  their  fatal  results. 
On  the  eastern  border  the  Homes  are  at  feud  with 
the  Swintons  and  Cockburns  ;  in  our  middle  marches, 
the  Scotts  and  Kerrs  have  spilled  as  much  brave 
blood  in  domestic  feud  as  might  have  fought  a  0/154° edit.' 
pitched  field  in  England,  could  they  but  have  for-  l829- 
given  and  forgotten  a  casual  encounter  that  placed 
their  names  in  opposition  to  each  other."  Some 
thirty  years  after  the  events  to  which  Sir  Walter 
alludes,  things  were  becoming  quieter  and  more 
settled  on  the  eastern  marches,  King  James  having 
most  strenuously  exerted  himself  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
lawless  proceedings  so  common.  But  about  six 
years  after  he  was  crowned  King  of  England,  there 
chanced  ane  grate  inconvenient,  through  that  unhappie 
slaughter  having  fallen  oute  vpoun  a  suddane  chand- 
mella,  when  Matthew  Sinclair  (son  of  Matthew 
Sinclair  of  Longformacus  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Swinton  of  Swinton)  was  slain  by  John 
Spottiswoode  of  Spottiswoode. 

The  family  partisans  were  numerous  on  both 
sides,  and  much  trouble  threatened  to  ensue,  so 
much  so,  that  the  King  personally  interfered  in  the 
matter,  and  sought — as  he  often  did  successfully — to 
get  the  aggrieved  party  to  accept  pecuniary  consola- 
tion for  their  bereavement  and  wounded  honour. 
For  a  time  this  course  did  not  promise  to  achieve 
the  desired  result.  The  Lords  of  the  Council  sent  a 
letter  to  James,  saying  —  "  According  to  your 
Maiestie's  directioun  we  convenit  befoir  ws  the  Laird 
of  Locharmachus,  and  his  brethren,  and  the  Laird  of 
Spottiswoode,  and  did  vrge  the  reconsiliatioune  and 
aggreement  of  that  feid  betuix  thame,  with  all  such 
argumentis  as  possiblie  we  could,  laying  before  thame 

c 


XV1I1 


the  great  care,  pains,  and  travellis  tane  be  your 
Maiestie,  and  the  happie  and  good  succes  whiche 
your  Maiestie  has  had  in  the  removing  of  the  deidlie 
feidis  in  this  kingdome,  &c."  The  Sinclairs  and 
their  friends  were  not  easily  to  be  brought  to  terms, 
and  refused  their  consent  to  those  offered,  unless 
"  Spottiswoode  wald  enter  his  persone  in  warde  to 
be  forthcomeand  to  justice  in  cais  he  succumbit." 
Spottiswoode  The  said  Spottiswoode  sent  answer  :  To  the  Rycht 
vol.  i.,  p.  23.  Honnourable  Robert  Sincler  of  Langformachus, 
Johnne  Sincler,  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  George 
Sincler,  his  bretherine,  the  relict,  bairnis,  kin,  and 
freindis  of  umquhill  Mathew  Sincler,  brother- 
germane  to  the  Laird  of  Langformachus,  declaring, 
"  In  the  first,  I,  the  said  Johnne,  vnfeinzedlie  re- 
pentis  fra  the  bottome  of  my  hairt  the  vnhappie  and 
doleful  slauchter  of  the  said  Mathew  Sincler,  com- 
mitted be  me  aganis  him  quha  wes  my  freind  most 
enteirly  belovit  that  euer  I  had  in  this  warld ;  pro- 
testing before  the  Lord  quha  maun  judge  all  hairtis, 
that  for  that  deid  fact  I  haue  passit  my  dayis  and 
tyme  euir  since  in  grieff  of  conscience  and  bitternes 
of  hairt ;  remembering  the  grite  and  tender  affectioun 
amongst  vs  euir  enterteynit  in  all  brotherlie  love,  till 
that  instant  tyme  that  the  devill,  taking  advantage, 
maid  me  instrument  of  that  lamentable  and  wicked 
deid  ;  .  .  .  and  that  they  may  knaw  that  I  am 
penitent,  and  deallis  vnfeinzedly  in  this  mater,  I  refer 
me  to  thame  selffts  what  homage  and  assythment 
they  will  command  me  in  my  persone  and  body  to 
do  (my  lyff  being  excepted)  I  will  obey  ;  nixt  know- 
ing my  awine  hard  estaite,  quhilk  I  doubt  not  is 
notour  to  thame  selffis,  I  offer  in  money  ane  thou- 
sand merkis,  quhilk  I  protest  to  the  Almichtie  God 


XIX 

is  above  my  power,  and  I  have  no  meanis  that  I 
know  of  to  exceid  the  samyn.  Nochwithstanding, 
gif  I  micht,  I  could  gif  als  grite  sowme  as  wer  in  my 
possibilitie  to  gif,  albeit  I  sould  leive  in  miserie 
thairefter,  my  burdyne  and  exhorbitant  chargeis 
being  sua  accressit  since  the  committing  of  that  euil 
fact,  that  I  am  altogidder  broght  to  ruyne.  Gif  thir 
heidis  foirsaidis  sail  not  satisfie  thame,  I  will  farther 
submit  my  selff  to  be  jugeit  in  all  thingis  quhilk 
possiblie  I  am  able  to  peribrme,  be  thair  narrest 
kynnismen  and  freindis,  viz.  the  Richt  Honnorable 
William  Sincler  of  Roisling,  Robert  Swenton  of  that 

Ilk, Sincler  of  Hirdmaston,  and  William  Sincler 

of  Blanss." 

The  Sinclairs  replied,  protesting  that  "  na  impu- 
tatioun  justlie  may  be  attributed  to  vs  for  vewing 
and  reiding  thairof,  proceiding  from  His  Maiestie's 
rebell  and  ane  excommvnicat  person,  and  sua  Godis 
and  his  Maiestie's  enemye,  .  .  .  and  maist 
humblie  desyre  that  his  Maiestie's  lawis  may  have 
course  in  the  said  mater  to  the  punischment  of  the 
nocent,  and  conforte  of  the  innocent ;  and  gif  it  try 
that  the  murthour  of  oure  brother  wes  committed  be 
the  said  Johnne  in  his  awne  defence  befoir  the  Judge 
Ordinar,  the  Chief  Justice,  we  sail  willinglie  imbrace 
him  and  tak  him  be  the  hand,  &c."  As  the  case  did 
not  proceed,  it  appears  that  the  Sinclairs  were  con- 
tented to  please  His  Majesty,  and  take  the  Laird  of 
Spottiswoode's  money  as  a  solatium,  and  so  pre- 
vented the  continuance  of  a  feud  which  would  have 
embroiled  many  of  their  neighbours,  especially  the 
Cockburns.  The  murdered  Matthew  and  his 
brothers  were  trustees  for  the  children  of  their  sister 
Elizabeth,  the  lady  of  Langton,  and  another  sister  was 


XX 


Pitcaim's 


"™    vc 


seai  TOM 
P.  73,  NO. 


the  wife  of  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  and 
the  Sinclairs  of  Herdmanston  and  of  Blanss  were  at 
that  time  also  nearly  related  to  the  Cockburns  and 
the  Swintons.  So  it  was  well  that  John  of  Spottis- 
woode  agam  got  "lettre  of  slanes,"  as  he  had  done 
before,  "  for  the  cruall  slauchter  be  him  of  umquhile 
Thomas  Quippo  of  Ley-Houssis,"  in  1595. 

To  return,  the  earliest  possessions  of  the  Cock- 
burns  in  the  Merse,  as  already  stated,  appear  to 
have  lain  in  the  valley  of  the  River  Whitadder,  in 
the  Bonkyl  conntry,  and  stretched  away  from  the 
hill  now  called  Cockburn-Law  towards  that  part  of 
the  coast  where  the  Blind  Minstrel  tells  us  that 
Wallace  — 

"At  Cokburn's-peth  he  had  his  gaderyng  maid." 

This  place  was  also  called  Colbrand's-peth  [or 
Forest].  Here  Colbrand  the  Dane,  it  is  said,  built 
a  stronghold,  being  one  of  the  "  generals,"  as  an  old 
writer  calls  him,  who  came  with  the  Danish  invaders 
in  1068,  "encouraged  by  the  malcontent  Lords  to 
unite  with  them  in  an  enterprise  against  England." 
So  Cockburn  has  been  considered  to  be  a  corruption 
of  Colbrand.  It  is  impossible  to  prove  now  that  it 
is  not,  and  that  the  first  ancestor  who  settled  in  the 
Merse  was  a  Saxon  and  not  a  Dane.  The  name  of 
his  supposed  first  foothold,  now  so  familiar  from 
being  a  station  upon  a  main  line  of  railway,  has  long 
been  called  by  the  name  Blind  Harry,  as  his  trans- 
lator gives  it.  In  a  charter  of  King  David's  it  ap- 
pears  as  Colbrance-peth,  in  other  old  charters  Col- 
burnis-peth,  Colbrandis-pad,  &c.,  and  sometimes  in 
a  sort  of  transition  form,  Cokbrandis-peth,  which  is 
certainly  suggestive.  In  a  perambulation  of  the 


XXI 


bounds  of  the  Merse  mentioned  by  Hector  Boece, 
the  march  line  ran  from  Cokburn's-peth  by  Soltre- 
hege.  Following  this  quaint,  credulous  old  church- 
man in  his  story,  Holinshed  says,  speaking  of  the 
times  of  Malcolm  Canmore  —  "  After  this  the 

i  ...  .  .,.   .      Chronicles, 

realme  continued  in  great  peace  certain  years,  till  it  edit.  1577,  P. 
chanced  that  a  great  number  of  theeves  and  robbers  252' 
assembling  themselves  together  at  Cocbournes- 
Pethes  did  much  hurt  by  robbing  and  spoyling  the 
people  in  the  country's  of  the  Mers  and  Louthane ; 
howbeit,  at  length  one  Patryke  Dunbar  of  Dunbar,  by 
commaundment  of  the  King,  fought  with  them,  slue 
their  captaine  with  sex  hundred  of  his  companie,  and 
took  fourscore  prisoners,  the  which  he  caused  to  be 
hanged ;  and  thus  having  delivered  the  country  of 
these  pyllers,  with  losse  of  fortie  of  his  oune  men,  he 
returned  to  the  King  with  the  head  of  the  captain  of 
that  route,  so  that  for  his  manhood  herein  shewed,  he 
was  made  by  the  King  Earl  of  Marche,  and  for  the 
maintainance  of  his  estate  had  the  lands  of  Cocbourne- 
Pethes  given  to  him  and  his  heyres  for  ewir,  upon 
the  condition  that  in  tymes  coming  the  Earle  of 
Marche  should  purge  Mers  and  Louthane  of  all 
theeves  and  robbers."  This  story  may  be  a  mere 
mythical  tradition  ;  but  although  Hollinshed  is  not 
an  authority  to  be  deemed  a  reliable  one  in  many 
things,  any  more  than  the  old  Canon  of  Aberdeen, 
when  the  latter  has  left  the  region  of  fabulous 
romance,  and  is  not  telling  us  of  the  wondrous 
merveils  shown  in  the  reaulme,  and  is  merely 
mentioning  the  name  of  a  place  as  known  in  his  own 
time,  it  is  shown  for  certain  that  the  lands  so  long 
held  by  the  descendants  of  Gospatric  were  asso- 
ciated with  the  name  of  Cockburn  in  early  times. 


xxu 


Riddell's  Law 
and  Practite  of 
Scottish  Peer- 
ages, vol.  ii. , 
p.  989. 


Rymer's 
Ftedera,  torn, 
ii.,  p.  94. 


Harbour's 
Brucr,  buke 
sewynd,  v. 
1062. 


Bain's  Ca'en- 
dar,  vol.  ii., 
pp.  257,  289. 


The  castle  was  once  a  very  strong  one,  and  was  for  a 
considerable  time  the  principal  messuage  of  the  Earls 
of  March.  Alexander,  Duke  of  Albany,  to  whom 
the  Earldom  was  given  by  his  father,  James  the  First, 
on  the  forfeiture  of  that  family,  married  Anne, 
daughter  of  Bertrand,  Count  of  Boulogne,  in  1477, 
and  settled  upon  her  for  life  the  "  palatium  nuncupa- 
tam  Colbrandis-pecht."  The  Duchess  would  be  pro- 
bably disappointed  when  she  saw  her  palace. 

When  King  Edward  over-ran  Scotland  he  forfeited 
the  estates  of  the  nobles  and  barons,  great  and  small, 
who  had  repudiated  the  rule  of  Baliol  after  he  ac- 
knowledged the  suzerainty  of  the  English  monarch  at 
New-Castle-on-Tyne,  a  month  after  he  was  crowned 
King  at  Scone — 2Oth  November  1292. 

Amongst  those  thus  dealt  with  was  Piers  de  Cok- 
burn,  who  had  distinguished  himself  by  unswerving 
fidelity  to  his  country's  cause,  and  his  lands  were 
bestowed  on  Pers  de  Luband,  Liband,  or  Lubaut,  as 
his  name  is  variously  written.  This  person — whom 
Lord  Hailes  calls  a  knight  of  Gascony,  upon  the 
authority  of  Leland  the  antiquary,  and  of  Barbour, 
who  speaks  of  "  Schir  Peris  Lubant  that  was  tane," — 
is  first  mentioned  as  the  Gascon  vallet  of  Gaiilard 
de  Garsak.  It  does  not  follow  because  he  is  styled 
valet  that  he  was  a  man  of  low  origin.  The  chival- 
rous Sir  Giles  Argentine  was  valet  once  to  Sir  Hugh 
le  Despencer  ;  but  it  seems  probable  that  Lubant's 
parentage  was  not  a  distinguished  one.  He  came 
[as  stated  in  the  roll  of  bannerets,  knights,  esquires, 
and  valets  not  of  the  King's  household,  valued  in  the 
Scottish  war  in  1298]  possessing  a  rough  Hard  or 
hackney,  valued  at  20  merks.  He  proved  himself  a 
clever  but  very  treacherous  valet,  and  had  got  on 


XXI11 


wonderfully  during  the  ten  years  which  had  passed, 
when  he  is  found  in  1308  holding,  with  Ingram  de 
Umfraville  and  other  persons  of  rank,  a  guardianship 
in  Scotland,  and  had  been  knighted  before — 

"  That  tyme  Edward  off  Ingland  King  Barbour,  buke 

TT    j          •       i  MI  •     i       •  sewynd,  v. 

Had  gevm  that  castill  in  keping  62/ 

Till  Schyr  Peris  Lombart  of  Gascone." 

The  castle  was  that  of  Edinburgh  ;  he  was 
Governor  of  it  when  Randolph  besieged  it,  but  when 
he  and  his  thirty  brave  companions  scaled  the  crag 
and  walls  in  the  dark  night  of  I4th  March  1313, 
killing  the  acting  Governor,  who  made  a  desperate 
defence,  he  found  that  the  garrison,  suspecting 
treachery,  had  thrust  Piers  Luband  into  a  dungeon, 
and  put  a  commander  they  could  depend  upon  into 
his  place.  He  then  entered  the  service  of  the  every- 
wherevictorious  Scots.and  "became  suoren  to  Bruce;"  Sir  D-  ,Dal- 

,         .  i      .  rymples 

but  turning  traitor  again,  was  executed  with  igno-  Annatsof 

•  TII          •  i*  11*11*  Scotland,  vol. 

miny.     Leland  writes  his  name  as  he  did  his  own,  H.(  p.  3s. 
terming   him    Petrus    Lelandius,   Vicount  of   Edin- 
burgh, and  says  "  that  Randolph  surmised  treason  inland's  Co/- 
upon hym,  because  he  thought  he  had  an   English  l£'l™' "'' 
heart,  and  made  him  be  hanged  and  drawen."     But 
the    monk    of   Malmesbury    says    he    betrayed    the 
castle  to  Robert  Bruce,  and  states  that  the   King  w.  ofMaimes- 
himself  inflicted  upon  him  condign  punishment  for 
treason.      In  the  edition  of  Barbour's   "Bruce"  of 
1620,  his  name  is  spelled  Liband. 

It  has  been  very  absurdly  suggested  that  Piers  de 
Luband  de  Cokburn  was  the  same  man  as  Piers  de 
Cokburn.  There  is  not  the  faintest  grounds  for  the 
supposition,  save  their  having  the  same  name — a 
common  one  at  the  time,  and  had  been  since  the 
time  of  the  Conqueror.  Besides  being  a  usual  name 


XXIV 


in  the  family  of  Cockburn,  we  have  their  neighbours, 
Piers,  son  of  Helias  de  Prendergest,  whose  seal  of 
arms  was  the  same — ermine  three  bars — and  Piers, 
son  of  Waldeve  de  Morthyngtoune  [Mordington]. 
Conspicuous  amongst  those  who  bore  it  at  the 
era  under  notice  were  Piers  de  Galveston,  the 
brave  defender  of  Scarboro'  Castle,  who  suffered 
for  his  misplaced  confidence  in  Aymer  de  Valence, 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  the  Percy  in  1313;  Sir 
Piers  de  Bermingham,  Edward  Bruce's  antagonist 
in  Ireland,  and  Piers  de  Montfort,  whom  Bruce 
with  his  own  hands  killed  "  in  the  woods  by  Stryve- 
lin."  We  have  the  seals,  too,  of  the  two  owners  of 
the  lands  of  Cockburn.  That  of  the  hereditary  one, 
appended  to  the  deed  of  homage,  bears  the  emblem 
of  his  family,  "  a  cock  walking  ; "  that  of  Piers  de 
Luband,  attached  to  a  receipt  for  stores  given  out  by 
him  when  he  was  constable  of  Linlithgow,  26th  June 
1 305,  has  the  device  of  "  a  wolf  passant,"  assumed  by 
him  [as  the  learned  Dr.  Dickson,  Curator  of  the 
Historical  Department  of  H.M.  Register  House, 
observes]  probably  from  a  fanciful  reference  to  his 
name.  It  certainly  was  an  appropriate  token  for  the 
treacherous  Gascon,  who  proved  the  truth  of  the 
adage  " Homo  homini  lupiis" 

He  left  a  family,   who   are  found    soliciting  and 

obtaining  aid  from  the  King  of  England.     On  the 

ist  December  1339  Edward  III.  requests  the  Abbess 

Close  Roils,      of  Shaftesbury  to  receive  into  her  house  till   Pente- 

ni.  cost  next  Sybilla  Leband  of  Scotland,  and  Thomas, 

her  son,  who  is  of  tender  age,  as  she  has  lately  come 

to  England,  and  has  petitioned    for   aid.     On    the 

;th  June   1348  there  was  paid  to  Sibilla  Leband,  a 

damsel  of  Scotland,  to  whom  the  King  granted  an 


XXV 


annuity  of  sixty  shillings  till  she  receives  her  lands 
in  Scotland  under  a  peace  or  truce,  in  part  of  last 
term,  twenty  shillings. 

The  lands  acquired  by  Piers  de  Luband  were  not 
destined  to  revert  to  his  descendants.  His  estates 
in  the  Lothians  were  granted  by  THE  BRUCE  to 
Alexander  Seton  and  Sir  Robert  Lauder,  "justiciar 
Loudonie  ;"  those  of  Cockburn  in  the  Merse  to  the 
brave  "  hammerer  of  the  English,"  that  friend, 
tenderest  and  true,  of  his  King,  the  good  Lord  John  of 
James  of  Douglas,  "  upon  whom  the  Lord  bestowed 


so  much  grace  in  this  life  that  he  everywhere  [Sk2Qn8e-'' 
triumphed  over  the  English."  The  wording  of  the 
grants  of  his  other  forfeited  lands  was,  so  far  as 
Luband's  name  is  concerned,  the  same  as  in  that  of 
the  territory  of  Cockburn,  which  was  as  follows  :— 
"  Sciatis  nos  dedisse,  concessisse  et  hac  present!  carta  Keg.  Great 
confirmasse  Jacobo  de  Duglas  militi  delecto  et  fideli  NO'S™  '' 
nostro,  totam  terram  de  Cokburne  vie  Berwyk  cum 
pertinenciis  que  fuit  quondam  Petri  de  Luband 
militis  in  cura  nostra  de  proditione  erga  nos,  et 
regnum  nostrum  nuper  convicti.  "  Archibald 
Douglas,  Sir  James'  youngest  brother,  son  of 
Eleanor  of  Louvaine,  Regent  of  Scotland  in  1333, 
succeeded  to  his  estates,  but  in  the  list  of  them  Cock- 
burn  is  not  mentioned.  The  superiority  which  once 
vested  in  the  Lords  of  Bonkill  fell  to  the  Dunbars, 
Earls  of  March.  Edward  Baliol  bestowed  Bonkill 
Barony  upon  "  Thomas  de  Ughtred  at  Rokesburg," 
2Oth  October  1332.  This  Ughtred  was  made 
Governor  of  Perth  by  King  Edward's  orders,  and 
bravely  defended  it,  but  he  had  no  more  to  do  there- 
after with  Bonkill  or  Cockburn.  In  1439  Sir  David 
de  Dunbar,  son  of  George,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  was 

D 


XXVI 

styled  Dominus  de  Cokburn.  On  7th  February 
Reg.  Great  1425,  Rex  confirmavit  donationem  quam  fecerunt 
Na  32.  quondam  Georgius  de  Dunbar  Comes  Marchiae  et 

Georgius  de  Dunbar  modernus  qua  concesserunt 
Davido  de  Dunbar  filio  dicto  Georgii  terras  de  Cok- 
burn et  de  Bregham  [Birgham]  vie  Marchise.  This 
David  de  Dunbar  de  Cokburn,  as  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Burnett,  Lyon  King  of  Arms,  in  his  admirable 
preface  to  the  fifth  volume  of  the  "  Exchequer  Rolls 
of  Scotland,"  edited  by  him,  notwithstanding  the 
very  harsh  treatment  his  brother  had  received 
from  King  James,  was  the  first  to  rush  to  his 
Exchequer  rescue,  and  killed  one  of  the  assassins,  for  which 
to'voi.  v^p°xi.  hi3  son>  James  the  Second,  rewarded  him  with  the 
lands  of  Auchtermonzie,  &c.,  which  passed  to  his 
daughter  and  heiress,  Margaret,  married  to  Alexander, 
fourth  Earl  of  Crawfurd.  On  the  i3th  January  1496 
James  IV.  confirmed  the  charter  of  Margaret 
Dunbar,  Countess  of  Crawfurd  and  Domina  de 
Cokburne  et  de  Birgheam,  by  which  she  granted  to 
her  son  Sir  Alexander  Lindsay  and  his  heirs  the 
lands  of  Cokburne,  with  the  mill  thereof;  although 
it  had  been  urged  by  John  Ogilvie  of  Fingask,  and 
Hugh  Douglas,  Dean  of  Brechin,  that  Archibald, 
Earl  of  Angus,  should  have  Cockburn  and  Birgham. 
Sir  George  Douglas  of  Pittendreich  bought  Cock- 
burnspath ;  his  son  David,  afterwards  eighth  Earl  of 
Hume  of  Angus,  took  designation  therefrom.  He  got  Birgham 
^sto%Ko}tht  from  tne  Countess  of  Crawfurd  in  exchange  for 
House  of  Cockburn,  agreeing  to  give  lands  of  equal  value  in 
Angus,  vol. ii.,  Angus.  William,  ninth  Earl  of  Angus,  Hume  of 
Godscroft  says,  intended  to  have  made  George  his 
heir,  and  to  have  disinherited  his  eldest  son,  but 
George  died  at  Cockburn  ist  December  1590.  If 


XXV11 


this  is  correct,  he  must  have  been  visiting  William 
Cockburn,  who  had  then  acquired  in  fee  the  home  of 
his  ancestors.  In  1458  an  allowance  of  xiii./z'<£.  vi.^. 
and  viii.fl'.  was  made  to  the  Countess  of  the  rents  of 
Cokburn  propter  vastitatum  per  guerras  Anglorum,  Exchequer 

,  %£  >-       i       ruT         i     i        i    foils,  vol.  vi., 

and  on  3<Dth  September  1497  the  Earl  of  March  had  PP.  310,  304, 
allowance  made  to  him  propter  vastitatum  terrarum  a 
de  Hirsell,  Graden,  Letham  [Leitholm],  Greenlaw, 
Birgheame,    and     Cokburn    vastatas     per    guerras 
Anglorum.     Alexander  Home,  miles,  had  in  1461  an 
allowance  for  the  dues  from   Loch  Brigheame  and 
Brigheamschelis  pro   combustarium  et  devastarium 
per  Anglicos  post  obsiderum  Castri  de  Norham.     In 
1489  the  superiority  of  most  of  the  lands  mentioned  md->  vo1-  vii-> 
had  come  from  the  Dunbars  to  the  branch  of  the 
family  who  had  taken  the  name  of  Home  from  their 
territory  so  called  ;  and  Alexander  Lord  Home  had 
charter  of  Greenlaw,  Cockburn,   Lethame,  and  the 
mansion  called  Le  Volte.     On  the  4th  January  1490 
he  got  some  of  these  lands,  with  Chirnside,  Mersing- 
ton,  and  Halsingtoun,  incorporated  into  the  Barony  Reg.  Great 
of  Home,   but  Cockburn   was    not  included.     The  NO.  "1902." 
lordship  of  it  still  vested  with  the  son  of  the  heiress 
of   David    Dunbar   de    Cockburn  —  David,   Earl    of 
Crawford.       In    1479    John    Lindsay   of  Cockburn  Orpines 

o  -11  Parochiales, 

married  Margaret  Summerville.  vol.  i.,  P.  184. 

In    1527  William    Cockburn,  second  son    of  Sir 
William    who    was   killed   at    Flodden,     had    con- 
firmation under  the   Great  Seal  of  the    charter   of  seai,Gvoi\u., 
Cockburn  from  Earl  David  to  himself  and  Isobella  NO.  447. 
Hume,  his  wife,  and  Alexander,  their  son,  and  made 
the  ancient  home  of  his  ancestors  his  residence.     In 
1532  he  had  charter    also   of   Lochtoun   or   Loch- 
Brigheame.     The  right   to    the   adjacent  forest  on 


XXV111 


the  slopes  of  Cockburn-law  was  his,  cum  piscatione 
salmonum  et  aliorum  piscium  in  Aqua  de  Quhittiter. 
The  keep,  which   stood    upon    an    eminence    over- 
looking the  river  valley,  had  escaped  in  1542,  when 
the  English  army  advanced  into  Scotland  under  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,   whose  orders  from   the  Council 
Raine's  North  were  that  "  necessary  y'  is  by  some  notable  exployte 
16""  the  dishonour  be   in   some  part  purged  which  the 

Skotts  brute  of  this  realme,  that  the  King's  subgetts 
in  the  late  enterprise  of  Bowes,  being  in  far  gretter 
number,  durst  not  abyde  to  encountre  with  the 
Skotts,  ye  shall  not  stay  and  totally  absteyne  from 
this  enterprise,  whatsoever  condicions  the  Skotts 
shall  offer  to  you,  before  you  have  done  some 
notable  exployte  against  the  said  Skotts."  Sir 
Robert  Bowes  with  3000  men  had  been  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner  with  his  brother  and  600  men 
at  Hadden-rig,  where  the  Earl  of  Angus  fought  with 
him  against  his  countrymen,  by  the  Earl  of  Huntly 
and  the  Lord  Home,  with  some  six  or  seven  hundred 
horsemen. 

It  may  be  noticed  as  a  coincidence  that  Hirsell, 
the  residence  now  of  the  Earls  of  Home,  was  given 
on  this  occasion  to  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Littledene 
by  James  V.,  who,  in  his  exultation  at  the  news, 
bestowed  this  reward  upon  him  as  the  bearer  of  the 
welcome  tidings.  Cockburn,  however,  suffered  much 
damage,  as  well  as  the  most  important  fortress  of 
Langton,  in  1544,  in  that  "  expedicion  in  Scotland 
made  by  the  Kyng's  armies  under  the  conduct  of 
the  rycht  Honorable  the  Earl  of  Hertford,"  when, 
as  stated  in  the  account  "  sent  by  a  friend  of  hys 
with  the  armie  to  the  Rycht  Honorable  Lord  Russel, 
Lord  Priuie  Sele,  were  brunte  and  destroyed  two 


XXIX 


hundred  and  eighty  touns  and  castells,  grate  and 
small,  betwixt  Coldingham  and  Mailros."  He  is 
silent  about  their  sacrilegious  burning  and  destruction 
of  the  beautiful  abbeys  they  plundered.  Langton, 
which  had  again  been  sacked  and  burned  by  Sir 
Henry  Percy  and  Sir  George  Bowes  in  their  raid 
into  the  Merse  in  1558,  had  been  rebuilt,  and  was  a  . 

JJ    •  '  Border  His- 

stately  castle  when  Queen  Mary  honoured  her  brave  tojy>  p-  589- 

and  faithful  adherent  Sir  James  Cockburn  with  her 

presence  there,  after  her  recovery  from  her  severe 

and  suspicious  illness  at  Jedburgh  in    1566.     It  is 

not  probable  that  it  was  caused  by  the  fatigue  of  her 

ride  to  Hermitage  from  thence  and    back    in    one 

day.     Mary   Stuart,    a    splendid    horsewoman,    was 

accustomed  to  such  exertions,  delighting  in  spending 

much   of  her  time  in  the  saddle.      "  The   Erie  of  Bir,rel's Diary< 

p.  6. 

Bothuil  had  been  deadly  woundit  in  the  hand  by 
John  Ellet,  alias  John  of  ye  Park,  quha's  heid  was 
sent  into  Edinburghe  thereafter."  "  The  insurgents 
vowed  to  withstand  to  the  uttermost,  and  yield  only 
to  the  Queen  in  person ;  so,  incited  by  the  circum-  Dr.  Stuart's 

36       -    ,  r  •  -I.CTJ  r  Hist,  of  Scot- 

stances,  and  fond  of  appearing  in  the  held,  and  of  iand,  Book  ii., 
recalling  to  her  people  the  renown  of  her  ancestors,  p'  I7°- 
Mary,  with  a  proper  attendance,  took  the  road  to  his 
castle."     It  would  have  fared  badly  with  any  of  the 
partisans  of  her   base    brother   Murray,  and   John 
Knox,  had  Langton  heard  them  venturing  to  sully 
her  fair  fame,  as  they  so  wickedly  did  by  their  vile 
insinuations  as  to  the    motive  that  induced    "  this 
most  admirable  and  hapless  woman,"  as  Mr.  Cham- 
bers justly  calls  her,  to  take  the  certainly  severe  and 
fatiguing  ride  through  forests  and  morasses,  which, 
as  he  says,   "  was  a  simple  diplomatic  transaction,  R.  Chambers' 
and  occurred  as  a  matter  of  course  in  public  business."  yoht,  P.  26. 
She  little  knew  the  man  for  whom  she  showed  such 
compassion. 


XXX 

Well  would  it  have  been  for  Mary  had  John  of 

ye  Park's  dagger  pierced  his  heart ;  she  would  have 

Diary  of         escaped  the  record   being  made,    that  "on  ye    is 

Robert  Birell,     ,,    .f          „        .  .  n.      i        r  s\  , 

p.  9.  Man  ye  Cjueine  was  marreit  to  ye  Duck  of  Orkney 

in  ye  Chappell  of  Holyrud-hous  by  Adam  Bothuil, 
abbot  of  Holyrud-hous,  and  his  text  was  Genesis  ii." 
Through  all  her  subsequent  trials  in  Scotland, 
Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Langton,  as  well  as  his 
brother-in-law,  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Skirling, 
stood  stoutly  by  her.  He  went  with  his  loved 
sovereign  to  Carberry  Hill  and  Langside.  Leaving 
him  meantime,  this  endeavour  will  now  be  proceeded 
with  to  trace  his  family  and  its  principal  cadets,  not 
from  the  first  patriarch  of  the  race,  whether  Saxon  or 
Dane,  who  built  his  fortalice  of  Cokburn  on  the 
Whitadder,  near  Bonkill  Castle,  but  from  the  earliest 
proved  ancestor  of  the  Cockburns  when  they  had 
risen  to  an  important  position,  and  were  enumerated 
amongst  the  Magnates  Scotiae  of  knightly  rank, 
when  knighthood  was  really  a  distinction,  and  con- 
ferred only  upon  men  of  a  different  order  from  the 
worthy  persons  so  decorated  in  modern  days,  the 

"  Sir  Moses,  Sir  Aaron,  Sir  Jam-ram-agee, 
Two  stockbroking  Jews,  and  a  shroffing  Parsee, 
Who  have  girt  on  the  armour  of  old  Chivalrie, 
And  instead  of  the  Red  Cross  have  hoisted  balls  three." 


GENEALOGY 


OF    THE 


COCKBURNS    OF    THAT    ILK 


BARONETS. 


COCKBURN  OF  THAT  ILK  AND 
LANGTON,  BERWICKSHIRE. 


Cockburn  of  Lanton, 

Armorial  de  Berry, 

A.D.  1380-1410. 


de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Langton 
and  Carridin, 
1296. 


I.  PIERS  DE  COKBURN  is  the  first  proved 
ancestor.  He  inherited  the  lands  of  Cokburn  in  the 
Merse  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion.  In  that  of 
his  son,  Alexander  the  Second,  he  witnessed  the 
donation  to  the  Monastery  of  Soltra  from  "  Fleuria 
relicta  quondam  Domini  Adae  de  Quintini,"  not  Adam 
of  Swinton,  as  the  name  has  been  rendered.  The 
charter  was  given  before  1232.  Contemporary  with 
him,  according  to  Mr.  Alexander  Nisbet,  lived  Sir 
John  Cockburn  of  Torry,  County  Fife.  The  date 
1237  appears  however  to  be  a  misprint. — Of  this 
Fifeshire  branch  in  its  place. 

In  repairing  the  very  ancient  Priory  of  Colding- 
ham  in  1851-5  "at  the  instance  of  the  late  John 
Cockburn-Hood  of  Stoneridge  [who,  as  Mr.  Hunter 


Registrant 
domus  de 
Soltra,  No.  9. 

A.  Campbell 
Swinton  of 
Kimmerg- 
hame's 
Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  p.  6. 

Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
edit.  1722, 
P-  355- 


<jSr 


W._K.  Hun- 


\ 


states,    found   a  ready  supporter  in    David    Milne 
Home  of  Wedderburn],  there  was  found  a  stone 
coffin  deposited  directly  over  and  two  feet  above  the 
IS>  foundation  of  the  ancient  wall,  upon  which  the  newer 

monastery  had  been 
built.  1  1  was  covered 
by  a  dressed  slab  of 
stone,  upon  which  is 
carved  a  sword  in 
form  of  a  crucifix,  on 
one  side  of  which 
there  is  the  figure  of 
a  domestic  cock,  and 
on  the  other  a  bugle- 
horn.  From  the  in- 
signia it  must  have 
been  some  person  of 
distinction  who  was 
here  entombed,  not 
improbably  one  of 
the  Cockburns  of 
Langton,  who  pos- 
sessed a  fortalice  at 
EastReston."  Lang- 
ton  and  East  Reston, 
however,  did  not 
come  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  family 
until  the  days  when 

upon  the  tomb  of  one  of  their  chiefs  would  have  been 
carved  the  armorial  bearings  then  carried,  viz.,  three 
cocks  two  and  one,  instead  of  a  single  "  cock 
walking,"  as  shown  in  the  well-cut  seal  of  the  first 
Cockburn  of  Langton  in  1  340. 


Had  the  author  quoted  seen  the  impression  of  the 
old  one  used  by  the  Piers  de  Cokburn,  who  made  his 
submission  at  Berwick  in  1 296,  he  might  have  con- 
cluded that  the  mouldering  remains  exposed  to  view 
when  the  lid  of  the  sarcophagus  was  raised,  and 
which  fell  to  dust  immediately,  were  those  of  some 
early  ancestor  of  the  Cockburns  of  Langton,  perhaps 
of  this  very  Sir  Piers  de  Cockburn,  who  had  the 
"  dominium  "  of  Cockburn  with  its  castle  before  the 
year  1230.  The  seal  appended  by  the  Piers  de 
Cokburn  in  1296  to  the  deed  of  homage  perhaps 
was  the  impression  of  his  predecessor's  signet ;  the 
device  thereon  being  so  similar  in  its  antique 
character  to  that  carved  upon  the  lid  of  the  sarco- 
phagus. 

If  it  contained  the  body  of  Piers,  the  contem- 
porary of  Sir  Adam  of  Quinton,  it  would,  with  due 
reverence,  be  placed  by  the  Abbot  and  Monks  of 
Coldingham  within  the  precincts  of  their  Abbey 
church  ;  for  story  tells  that  he  set  out  for  the  Holy 
Land,  with  his  feudal-lord  Patric,  sixth  Earl  of 
Dunbar,  who  joined  the  disastrous  crusade  of  Louis 
IX.  of  France  in  1248. 

In  his  most  valuable  history  of  his  ancient  and 
celebrated  family,  MrCampbell-Swinton  of  Kimmerg- 
hame,  after  mentioning  Sir  Alan  Swinton  of  that 
Ilk,  who  died  about  the  year  1200,  observes — "  Of 
the  Barons  of  Swinton  for  the  next  century  and  that  Ilk>  p>  6' 
a  half  little  can  be  said,  except  that  their  existence 
is  proved  by  various  charters  where  their  names 
appear  as  witnesses."  This  is  the  case  also  with 
their  neighbours,  the  Cockburns  of  that  Ilk.  Their 
old  documents  have  been  destroyed,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  many  occasions  upon  which  their 


castles  of  Cockburn  and  Langton  were  sacked  and 
burnt,  those  of  the  sixteenth  century  have  likewise 
been  lost.  Fortunately  in  the  Public  Records 
notices  of  members  of  the  family  are  found  during 
the  darkest  period  of  history,  enabling  a  fair  idea  to 
be  arrived  at  of  the  succession  of  their  chiefs  from 
the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  next  possessor  of  the  property,  who  may 
confidently  be  taken  to  have  been  the  son  of  this 
Piers,  was — 


IT-  SlR  ROBERT  DE  COKBURN    of  that  Ilk 
P.  81,  NO.  13.  and     Henderland.— He    was    knighted    by     King 
Alexander   III.       In    1262   he   witnessed  the  deed 
whereby  Earl  Patric  of  Dunbar  granted  a  donation 
to  the  nuns  of  Coldstream  out  of  the  lands  of  Leynal 
[Lennel]  adjacent  thereto.     His  name  is  placed  first  of 
the  four  attesting  knights.     Philip  de  Haliburton  and 
Thomas  Papedie  were  also  amongst  the  witnesses. 
North       In    the   previous    year    he   affixed    his    seal    of 
Appendix,       arms  to  another  charter  by  this  same  Earl  Patric, 
Nadin3g7hame'    in  which  the  Priors  of    Durham    and    Coldingham 
were  both  interested.      His  name  appears  also  in  a 
charter  of  1270  to  Sir  Hugh  Bellenden,  and  about 
the  same  time  he  was  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the 
deed  by  which    Falethaugh  resigned    his  rights  in 
Sir  William     the  lands  of  Drumkaraucht  to  Sir  Hugh  de  Abir- 
o/Doi^ia*      nethin,  giving  "  in  maiorem  securitatem  nos  plegias 
vol.  in.,  No.  5.  jnueni    videlicet    Falethauh    meum    filium    primo- 
genitum  et  Michaelem  Mac  Alanh."     A  facsimile  of 
this  beautifully  written   document  is   given    in  the 
Book  of  Douglas. 

Sir  Robert  having  acquired  very  extensive  terri- 


*s 

> 


Q 

W 

w 
C 


DEED  of  RESTITUTION  by  PATRICK,  EARL  of  DUNBAR,  to 
the  PRIOR  and  CONVENT  of  DURHAM,  of  the  Ward  of  East 
Nesbit,  &c.— Dated  (4th)  November  1261. 

TRANSLATION. 

To  all  who  shall  see  or  hear  this  writing,  Patrick,  Earl  of 
Dunbar,  son  of  Patrick  the  Earl,  wisheth  health  in  the  Lord : 
Wit  ye  us  to  have  restored  to  the  Prior  and  Convent  of  Durham, 
the  ward  of  East  Nesbit,  with  the  marriage  of  the  heirs  of  the 
said  vill,  as  their  own  proper  right  for  ever,  so  that  neither  we 
nor  our  heirs  shall  be  able  to  claim  any  right  whatever  to  the  said 
ward  and  marriage;  saving  to  us  and  our  heirs  fully  thirty 
shillings  yearly  at  the  Feast  of  Saint  Martin,  to  be  received  from 
the  Prior  of  Coldingham,  who  for  the  time  shall  be,  from  Eden- 
ham,  and  from  the  aforesaid  vill  of  East  Nesbit;  and  likewise 
saving  to  us  and  our  heirs  the  forinsec  service  due  from  the  said 
vills  ;  of  which  thirty  shillings  yearly,  and  of  which  forinsec  service 
we  and  our  ancestors  have  hitherto  been  vested  and  seized: 
Providing  moreover  that  the  aforesaid  heirs  of  the  said  vill  do  not 
disparage.— In  witness  of  which  thing  to  this  writing  we  have 
caused  our  seal  to  be  set ;  these  being  witnesses,  Sir  Robert  of 
Meyners,  Hugh  de  Gurlay,  then  steward  to  the  Earl,  John  de 
Esselington,  Patrick,  son  of  Walter,  Thomas  de  Herinton,  Richard 
de  Tweng,  Robert  de  Cokeburn,  Knights,  John,  Rector  of  the 
Church  of  Oldehamstoks,  Henry  Gategang,  and  others.— Given  at 
Chirneside  on  Friday  next  after  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  in  the  year 
of  the  Lord  a  thousand  two  hundred  sixty-one. 


tories  in  Tweeddale,  resided  there,  and  his  name 
is  not  met  with  in  records  affecting  the  Merse  after 
the  year  above  mentioned. 

The  gift  of  Richard  de  Heton,  son  of  the  deceased  Liber  de 
Magister  Adam  de  Heton,  of  lands  in  the  territory  of  %'%£'.  ™1'*" 
Molle,  which  had  belonged  to  the  Lady  Eschina  de 
Molle,  to  the  Monastery  of  Melrose,  was  witnessed 
"  Roberto    de    Cokeburne    tune    constabulario     de 
Rokesburg."     The  name  of  his  wife  has  not  come 
down  to  us.     She  was  probably  the  daughter  and 
heiress  of  some  old  chieftain  of  Upper  Tweeddale, 
of  whom  as  little  is  known  as  of    Falethaugh,  by 
whom  he  got  large  estates  ;  amongst  others  Hender- 
land,  &c.,  on  Megget.      It  may  have  been  that  she 
was  the  inheritrix  of  the  possessions  of  Ranulf  de 
Megget,  who  is  mentioned  as  lord  of  that  territory  orients 
in  1 200,  in  which  year  he  witnessed  the  perambula-  vol.  i.,  p.  233. 
tion    of    Stobo.       This     Henderland    in     Rodonna 
[which    ancient  barony   included  all   the    Valley  of 
the   Megget]  he  seems  to  have  made  his  chief  seat. 
Dr.  Alexander  Pennecuik,  in  his  accurate  description  Pennecuik's 
of  Tweeddale,  says — The  old  and  Honorable  Cock-  p.  248. 
burns  of  Henderland  were  then  acknowledged  to  be 
the  chief  of  that  surname  in    the   Kingdom.      Of 
course  he  alludes  to  the  times  before  Sir  Alexander 
in  consequence  of  his  match  with  the  heiress  of  the 
de  Veteri-Pontes,  returned  to  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  original  home  of  his  ancestors  in 
the  Merse,  and  made  their  castle  of  Langton  his 
seat.     It  continued  to  be  that  of  the  chief  family  of 
the  Cockburns  for  four  hundred  years. 

There  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  doubting  that 
three  of  the  name,  prominent  men  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  were  Sir  Robert's  sons,  namely, 


Nigel,  Piers,  and  Thomas.     He  had  also  a  daughter, 
vol.  i,    wjiQ   marrieci  the  son   Of  Thomas   Finemund.      In 

1264-1266  Hugh  de  Abernethy  was  Sheriff  of 
Roxburghshire.  In  his  accounts  is  noted,  "  Item 
pro  relieuam  et  maritagium  filii  Thome  Finemund 
de  illo  termino  vj.  marce,  &c."  Following  this 
is  the  computum  of  Thome  Kauer  Vicecomitis 
de  Rokesburg,  with  "  Memorandum  quod  Robertus 
de  Cokeburn  miles  tenetur  in  quindecim  marcis  pro 
maritagio  filie  sue  que  non  ponuntur  in  hoc  computo 

ibid.,  p.  29.  quia  nihil  boni  habuit  in  ballia  de  Rokesburg  unde 
possit  compelli.  By  a  later  entry  this  merchet 
appears  paid.  Sir  Hugh  de  Abernethy  credits  the 
accounts  of  the  county,  "  pro  relieuium  et  maritagium 
filii  Thome  Finemond  x.  marcas  et  de  xxx.  marcis 
quas  Robertus  de  Kokeburn  miles  finiuit  pro  ea." 
The  name  of  Thomas  Kauer  or  Kerr,  sheriff  in 

stodart's  1264,  is  also,  Mr.  Stodart  says,  written  Kaurr.  Sir 
Robert  Sibbald  says  that  Thomas  Kayr  was  Judex 
de  Fife  in  1292. 

The  Finemunds  were  extensive  landowners,  and 
are  found  bestowing  liberal  donations  upon  the 
Church, 

When  King  William  the  Lion  was  at  Roxburgh 
Castle  [which  in  those  days  overlooked  the  large 
town  of  Roxburgh,  of  which  no  vestige  is  now  to 
be  seen,  where  was  the  Royal  mint,  and  coins  were 
struck  in  the  reigns  of  his  grandfather  David  I.  and 
his  brother  Malcolm  the  Maiden]  he  confirmed 
many  grants  to  the  Abbot  and  Monks  of  Kelso 
made  in  their  time,  and  since  he  himself  had 
ascended  the  throne.  Amongst  the  earliest  donors 
was  Roger  de  Ov  or  Ow,  who  gave  to  them  the 
advowson  of  the  "  Ecclesiam  de  Langtoune  cum 


omnibus  ad  earn  pertinentibus."  His  grant  was 
renewed  by  William  de  Veteri  -  Ponte,  who  got 
Langton  from  this  Roger  a  few  years  after  this  gift, 
i.e.,  about  1150.  In  like  manner  William  Finemund  Liter  de 
bestowed  upon  the  Abbacy,  ecclesiam  de  Kambus- 
naythan.  The  Finemunds,  lords  of  Cambusnethan 
in  Lanarkshire,  whose  name  in  old  records  is  some- 
times written  ffinemund,  were  probably  of  Flemish 
origin,  and  came  to  Scotland  about  the  same  time 
as  their  neighbours  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom, 
the  Flemings  of  Biggar  and  Cumbernauld,  to  whom 
they  were  perhaps  of  kin.  Warin  de  Finemund, 
the  grandson  probably  of  Sir  Robert  de  Cokburn, 
is  the  last  of  the  family  mentioned  as  a  man  of 
position.  He  witnessed  in  1304  the  settlement  of 
the  marches  of  an  estate,  "  bounded  partly  by  the 
fosse  of  Galloway  and  the  rieulet  running  thence 
into  the  Lydd." 


P'  6' 


SIR  PIERS  DE  COKBURN,  Sir  Robert's  second  son, 
being  the  possessor  of  a  strong  fortalice  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  could  not  well  escape  having  to  ride  to  Berwick, 
and  with  the  generality  of  the  Scottish  nation  who  had  any 
position  subscribe  the  deed  of  homage  to  Edward  of  England. 
It  was  on  the  28th  August  1296  that  he  did  so  along  with 
Nichol  de  Vieuxpont  of  Tyndale,  Michael  de  Wymes 
Henricus  de  Haliburton,  and  one  or  two 
others  of  his  companions  in  arms.  His 
seal,  appended  to  the  deed  of  submission, 
bore  "  a  cock  walking."  He  was  an  early 
supporter  of  THE  BRUCE,  and  his  lands 
were  forfeited,  and  those  in  the  Merse 
bestowed  upon  Edward's  minion  Pers  de 
Luband,  as  already  noticed.  Amongst 
the  petitions  presented  to  the  English 
monarch  for  restoration  of  lands  was  that 


Seal  of  Piers  de 
Cokburn,  1296. 


of  Michael  de  Wytton,  keeper  of  the  King's  stores  at  Berwick, 


8 


Sir  F.  Pal- 
grave's  Collec- 
tion of  State 
Papers,  vol.  \., 
?•  309. 


Raine's  North 
Durham, 
P.  45- 

Ilnd.,  Appen- 
dix, No.  114. 

Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
edit.  1722,  p. 
357- 


Bain's  Calen- 
dar, vol.  i., 
No.  448. 


who  claimed,  "le  iii.  jour  de  August  1304  a  Derlington  la 
terre  Pierres  de  Cokburn  qi  est  de  1'acord  le  Conte  de 
Carrik,  et  la  quele  terre  [il]  dona  aut  dit  Michele  p.  sa 
chartre  avant  ces  houres — Le  Roi  le  granta."  These  lands 
of  Wytton,  in  the  constabulary  of  Haddington,  belonged  in 
after  times  to  the  Cockburns  of  Skirling.  Adam,  laird  of 
Skirling,  was  retoured  heir  to  them  in  1460. 

Piers  de  Cokburn  married  Helena  de  Papedy  or  Pepdie, 
the  daughter  most  probably  of  Stephen  de  Papedy  and  his 
wife  Helena,  who  was  one  of  the  widows  who  had  restitution 
of  their  husband's  lands  in  1296  from  King  Edward.  One 
family  of  Papedei,  as  the  name  was  generally  written  of  old, 
ended  in  an  heiress,  who  carried  Dunglas  and  other  lands  in 
the  Merse  to  the  Homes.  The  Earls  of  Home  still  quarter 
their  arms.  Papedie  was  sheriff  of  Norhamschyre  and 
Islandschyre  before  the  year  1 1 10.  The  charter  of  "  Waldeve 
the  Earl,  son  of  Gospatric  the  Earl,  was  witnessed  in  1 1 66, 
primo  anno  Willelmi  Regis  Stephano  papedi."  The  three 
papingoes  [parrots]  carried  by  the  Papedies  of  Dunglas  are 
also  found  in  the  achievement  of  the  Lumleys,  Earls  of 
Scarboro',  descended,  it  is  said,  from  Liulph  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Confessor.  Similarity  of  armorial  bearings  in 
ancient  times  is  the  strongest  proof  of  common  descent.  The 
Papedies  were  a  family  of  great  consequence  and  wide  posses- 
sions in  the  reigns  of  Richard  and  John  of  England.  In 
1208  Walter  de  Ferlinton,  being  reported  to  have  married 
[duxisse]  without  permission  the  daughter  of  Henry  Pappede, 
who  was  said  [devenire]  to  belong  to  the  King,  was  ordered 
to  stand  his  trial  at  Westminister,  and  to  bring  his  wife 
Wimarca  with  him. 

There  are  no  good  reasons  for  supposing  the  tradition  to 
be  incorrect  that  this  faithful  adherent  of  THE  BRUCE  was 
one  of  the  companions  of  his  nephew,  the  gallant  David  de 
Brechin,  when  he  went  to  war  against  the  Saracens.  So 
chivalrous  a  man  as  Piers  de  Cokburn  would  be  certain 
eagerly  to  embrace  any  opportunity  of  gaining  renown,  and 
of  performing  the  devoir  of  a  true  knight.  Their  respective 
wives,  Helen  Papedy  and  Margaret  de  Bonkyll,  having  been 
occasionally  neighbours  and  no  doubt  friends  from  childhood, 
would  be  companions  to  each  other  in  the  absence  of  their 
knights.  Edward  and  Adam  mentioned  below  are  taken  to 
have  been  their  sons. 


The  Scottish  barons  at  this  time,  especially  those  who  held 
lands  on  both  sides  of  the  border — such  as  the  Bruces, 
Baliols,  &c. — seem  to  have  been  partial  to  the  name  of 
Edward.  They  bestowed  it  upon  their  sons  probably  in 
admiration  of  Prince  Edward  of  England,  their  suzerain,  who 
in  his  younger  days  had  gained  well-merited  fame  for  his 
wisdom  as  well  as  courage,  displayed  not  only  at  home,  but 
in  the  East,  where  he  so  chivalrously  restored  the  prestige  of 
the  English  arms  amongst  the  Saracens.  To  receive  the 
accolade  of  knighthood  from  the  hand  of  Edward  of  England 
was  an  honour  sought  for  by  the  noblest  men  of  that  age. 
The  renowned  warrior  Sir  Simon  Eraser,  Lord  of  Tweeddale, 
who  afterwards  with  his  brave  borderers  defeated  Edward's 
army  of  1 2,000  men  at  Rosslyn,  had  been  thus  distinguished, 
and  when  the  vengeful  king  sentenced  him  to  the  same 
ignominious  death  as  Wallace,  he  perhaps  justified  the  pro- 
ceeding to  himself  by  looking  upon  him  as  a  forsworn  knight; 
the  more  so  that  he  had  sworn  with  David  de  Brechin,  "Aler 
en  Escoce  por  le  suivir  selonc  mon  poer  en  ceste  guerre  q'il  Sir  Francis 
ad  au  Roi  de  France."  The  estimation  in  which  he  held  the 
honour,  was  evinced  by  the  solemn  ceremonial  at  Westminster,  191. 
when  he  conferred  it  upon  his  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  "  to 
kindle  in  him  a  martial  spirit,  and  inspire  him  to  maintain  his 
conquests  and  avenge  his  quarrels,  bestowing  their  spurs  at 
the  same  time  upon  300  of  the  noblest  of  the  youth  of 
England,  thenceforward  deemed  bound  to  him  as  his  brethren 
and  faithful  companions  in  war." 

I.  EDWARD  DE  COKBURN  is  found  on  sth  August 
1300  in  attendance  upon  Patric  de  Dunbar,  first  Earl  of 
March,  the  feudal  superior  of  the  dominium  of  Cockburn, 
as  his  valet  or  page,  and  no  doubt  would  be  present  with 
him  in  the  previous  month,  at  the  siege  of  Caerlaverock 
along  with  Patrick  the  Earl's  son,  who  succeeded  as  second 
Earl  of  March  and  ninth  Earl  of  Dunbar,  then  a  lad  of 
sixteen.  Edward  Cockburn  was  probably  not  much  older. 
He  afterwards  drew  his  sword  for  King  Robert,  in  whose 
reign  he  is  found  possessed  of  the  barony  of  Ord  or  Urde, 
County  Peebles.  The  Earl  of  March  "a  man  lightly  esteemed  Hailes'  An- 
by  all  parties,  had  abandoned  the  English  interest  and  «a&>vol-"-> 
espoused  the  party  of  Bruce  when  Berwick  was  taken  in  F 

F 


10 


Origines 
Parochiales, 
vol.  i. ,  pp. 
186-187. 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  24. 


Liber  de 
Afelros,\o\.\\., 
P-  396- 


1318.  After  Bannockburn  he  ful  gentely  reseivid  King 
Edward  into  his  castel  of  Dunbar  and  thens  the  King  cam 
by  water  to  Berwick."  The  castle  thereof  was  in  his  keep- 
ing in  1333  when  he  "became  English"  again,  and  sur- 
rendered it  to  Edward  III.  Where  Edward  Cockburn  was 
then,  or  whether  he  was  still  alive,  is  not  known;  nor  whether 
he  inherited  Urde  from  his  father,  upon  whom  the  territory 
may  have  been  bestowed  by  "  the  good  "  Sir  James  Douglas, 
or  had  acquired  it  himself. 

It  is  not  altogether  unlikely  that  he  may  have  got  it  by 
marriage  with  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  "  Adam  de 
Horde,  or  of  Thomas  of  Ladye-Ord  vie  Peblis,  both  of 
whose  names  are  found  on  the  Ragman  Roll.  The  Manor 
of  Urde  belonged  to  Robert  de  Londoniis,  natural  son  of 
William  the  Lion,  and  was  held  from  him  as  feudal  vassal 
by  William  de  Orde  in  1214,  as  it  had  been  by  his  father, 
Geoffrey  Dominus  de  Orde  or  Urde. 

John  de  Crake  had  charter  from  King  Robert  Bruce  "  of 
half  the  bounding  of  the  barony  of  Urde  quhilks  he  got  in 
marriage  frae  Edward  Cokburn  boundand."  Craik,  on  the 
head  of  the  Borthwick  Water,  was  adjacent  to  Glenkerry 
and  Dalgles,  which  territories  belonged  to  the  Cockburns. 

In  1329  Patrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  as  over-lord,  confirmed 
the  grant  from  Master  William  de  Greinlaw  of  some  lands 
in  the  territory  of  Halsingtoune  and  of  Pittilscheuche  [both 
within  the  bounds  of  the  present  parish  of  Eccles]  to  the 
Monastery  of  Melrose.  The  deed  was  witnessed  by  Edward 
de  Cokburn  and  Stephen  de  Papedie.  They  were  probably 
first  cousins.  This  is  the  last  notice  met  with  of  Edward, 
who  does  not  appear  to  have  left  any  child  except  John 
de  Crake's  wife. 


II.  ADAM  DK  COKBURN,  deemed  to  have  been  the 
progenitor  of  the  Cockburns  of  Torrie,  County  Fife,  and 
will  therefore  be  mentioned  again,  is  found  at  one  time 
in  an  unpleasant  position,  a  prisoner  in  England,  being 
amongst  the  "  homines  Berwici  qui  ob  suspicionem  ad 
Novum  Castrum  [Newcastle-upon-Tyne]  misi  fuerunt." 
Orders  were  sent  relating  "  aliis  Berwicentiis  in  castris  et 
oppidis  Anglicis  relegatis."  Especial  reference  is  made  to 


1 1 

Adam   de   Cokburn   and   Bartholomew   de   Prestun,    "who 
were  confined  in  the  Castle  of  Baumburg  "  [Bamborough]. 

Where  or  when  their  father  the  gallant  Sir  Piers  died  is 
not  known  with  any  certainty.  Traditions,  although  handed 
down  in  families  from  generation  to  generation,  are  very  fre- 
quently destitute  of  foundation,  but  a  halo  of  romance 
attaches  to  the  name  of  Piers,  who  stood  with  his  kinsmen 
and  their  retainers,  it  is  believed,  beside  "  the  good  "  Sir  James 
of  Douglas  in  the  centre  of  the  battle  at  Bannockburn,  and 
aided  in  gaining  that  glorious  victorie  succedit  to  Scottis  on 
the  Nativitie  of  Sanct  Johne  the  Baptist  fra  the  Incarnatioune 
MCCCXIV.  zeris.  It  may  be  also  true  that  he  accompanied  his 
patron  when  he  started  with  THE  BRUCE'S  heart  for  Palestine, 
and  fell  with  him  on  the  plains  of  Spain. 

SIR  THOMAS,  supposed  to  have  been  the  third  son  of  Sir  S;r  F_  Pal. 
Robert  de  Cokburn,  is  styled  "  del  Countd  de  Rokesburgh,"  grave's 
when  he  was  with  his  brother  compelled  to  take  the  unlawful 
oath  of  fealty  to  "  the  Hammer  of  the  Scottish  Nation,"  for 
which  humiliation  they  were  to  have  ample  amends. 

He  was  with  him  on  the  field  of  Bannockburn,  and  it  was 
probably  from  the  hand  of  Robert  Bruce  that  both  brothers 
received  the  honour  of  knighthood,  or  it  may  have  been  from 
the  Lord  James  of  Douglas.     In  all  likelihood  he  received 
from  him  charters  of  the  large  estates  he  held  in  Tweeddale ; 
but  if  so,  they  are  amongst  the  numerous  missing  ones,  and 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  Registrum  Magni  Sigilli  until  his 
grandson  or  grandnephew  Piers  came  into  possession  about 
1360-63.      Sundirland  and  Sundirland-hall,  County  Selkirk,   £eg_  Qreat 
were  included  in  the  grant  of  Piers  de  Kocburn  de  Henriland  Seal,  vol.  i.,  p. 
to  his  son  Piers.     These  estates  were  annexed  formerly  to   l63'  No>  "' 
the  extensive  Barony  of  Hawick,  county  Roxburgh,  which 
belonged  to  the  Lovels.      Cavers  and  Branxome  were  also 
within  its  boundaries.     Henry  Lovel  held  this  great  territory 
in  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion.      In  1183  Henry  Luvel 
[Lupellus]  bestowed  upon  the  canons  of  St.  Andrews  "  two 
oxin-gang  of  land  in  Branchishelme,  which  his  son  Richard,    Qrigines 
Lord   of  Hawic,   gave   them   other  lands  in  exchange  for  Parochiales, 
between  Quikuene  and  Chesteris.      Amongst  those  named  vo1'  '•'  p-  339- 
were  Harwod  and  Quhammes  or  Wammes  [Weens].      His 
descendant  Sir  Richard  Lovel  had,  besides  this  great  barony, 


12 


Origines 
Parochiales, 
vol.  i.,  p.  389. 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  38. 


Stodart's 
Scottish  Arms, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  140. 

Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iii., 
No.  780. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i., 
p.  6,  No.  24. 


very  extensive  territories  in  Eskdale  and  E  \visdale,  and  also 
in  Annandale.  He  married  Muriella,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Sir  John  de  Soulis,  who  inherited  the  manor  of  Auld  Rox- 
burgh and  half  the  barony  of  Wester  Ker  (or  Wester-Kirk) 
in  Eskdale.  The  other  half  still  belonged  to  her  relatives  on 
the  mother's  side — the  Lovels.  The  Commissioners  appointed 
to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  narrated  in  a  petition  from 
Richard  and  Muriella,  reported  that  "  the  barony  of  Hawick 
had  belonged  to  Richard  Lovel's  ancestors  from  time  to 
which  no  memory  runs  to  the  contrary."  The  advowson  of 
its  Church  had  also  been  in  their  hands  as  lords  of  the  manor 
for  several  centuries.  With  his  wife's  consent  he  exchanged 
Auld  Roxburgh  for  lands  in  Somersetshire  in  1310.  Having 
succeeded  to  the  ancient  heritage  of  his  family,  the  historic 
Castle  Kari  in  that  shire,  he  was  summoned  as  a  Peer  of 
Parliament  in  1 348.  It  was  a  fortunate  arrangement  Muriella 
de  Soulis  and  her  husband  made,  as  their  grand-daughter 
Muriel  would  not  have  brought  as  portion  of  her  inheritance 
this  great  estate  in  Scotland  to  her  husband,  Sir  Nicholas 
St.  Maur,  Lord  St.  Maur.  Sir  Richard  Lovel  appears  to 
have  had  a  brother  William  (not  named  in  the  pedigree  given 
in  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  "  Extinct  Peerage  "),  who  continued 
to  hold  the  other  estates  forfeited  in  the  reign  of  David  II. 
William  Lord  Douglas  had  charter  of  "  Eskdale  and  Ewisdale, 
quhilks  William  Lord  Lovel  forisfecit."  On  igth  July  1327 
protection  was  craved  for  Monsire  William  Lovel  and  his 
vadlet,  John  de  Rallesden,  as  they  have  "  forclos  "  the  Scots, 
by  the  aid  of  God,  from  entering  their  lands,  and  the  writer 
begs  his  correspondent  to  raise  the  country  on  them  wherever 
they  draw  to,  in  obedience  to  the  King's  command. 

A  branch  of  the  family  continued  in  Scotland,  and  possessed 
the  lands  of  Ballumby,  in  Forfarshire,  where  they  had  a  strong 
fortress,  till  the  latter  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Sir  Henry 
Lovel  of  Ballumby,  who  married  Margaret  Montcrief,  had 
infeftment  of  various  lands  held  by  him  from  the  forfeited 
Earl  of  Angus,  nth  May  1529.  In  many  instances  families 
whose  chiefs  disappeared  and  whose  principal  estates  were 
escheated  in  Robert  the  Bruce's  reign,  continued  to  be  repre- 
sented by  younger  branches  who  have  been  overlooked. 
That  monarch  granted  "  Henrico  de  Balliol  militi  delecto  et 
fideli  nostro  "  all  the  lands  of  Brankishelme  [Branxholm],  in 


the  barony  of  Hawic,  which  belonged  to  Richard  Lovel, 
Knight."     Cavers,  another  portion  of  that  barony,  was  in  the 
possession  of  Sir  Alexander  de  Balliol,  Lord  Chamberlain  of 
Scotland,   who  was  forfeited;    but,   nevertheless,   "  Monsire   Sir  Bernard 
Thomas  de  Baylliol "  inherited  Cavers,  which  he  or  his  son   ^urke's  Ex- 
resigned,  having  no  children,  to  his  brother-in-law  William,   p.  jj.  " 
Earl  of  Douglas,  in  1368,  whose  grandson,   Archibald,  not 
recognised  as  legitimate,  had  charter  of  Cavers.     He  it  was 
who  carried  the  standard  of  the  Earl,  the  dauntless  hero  of  W.  Riddell- 
Otterburn,  "  his  father."      Cavers  remained  in  the  possession  ^^^  Border 
of  his  descendants  in  the  male  line  until  the  death  of  James  p.  n.  ' 
Douglas  of  Cavers  in  1878.     The  banner  carried  in  1388  by 
his  ancestor  is  still  preserved  in  the  hall  of  his  ancient  seat. 

The  lordship  of  Hawic  barony  appears  to  have  been  given 
to  "  the  '  Good '  Lord  James  of  Douglas,  who  granted  the 
lands  of  Sundirland  to  his  kinsman,  Douglas  of  Lintonroth-  Robertson's 
brekis,  and  the  other  part  of  that  estate,  known  as  Sundir-  ***• p-  27' 
landhall,  he  gave,  or  more  probably  confirmed  as  over-lord, 
to  Sir  Thomas  de  Cokburn,  who  may  have  been  in  possession 
of  it  in  right  of  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  the  house  of  Lovel. 
When  James  III.  forfeited  in  the  next  century  the  estates  of 
William  Cockburn  of  Henderland,  Sundirland,  Traquair,  &c. 
were  united  into  the  one  barony  of  Sundirlandhall,  and  given 
to  William  Douglas  of  Cluny,  but  Sundirlandhall  proper  was 
restored  almost  directly  to  Cockburn. 

The  relationship  between  the  great  families  above-named, 
the  forfeitures  and  counter  forfeitures  by  the  Bruces  and 
Baliols,  or  rather  their  English  Suzerains,  Edward  I.  and  II., 
and  the  protection  in  many  cases  given  by  mutual  concession 
to  the  rights  of  heiresses,  render  following  the  possession  of 
estates  at  this  period  very  difficult.  A  distinguished  writer  sir  J.  G. 
upon  the  history  of  his  country  has  observed  with  much  truth 
that  "  it  is  doubtless  more  easy  to  complete  a  history  of  any 
civilised  country  in  Europe  than  to  elucidate  one  obscure  History,  Pre- 
century  of  the  history  of  Scotland."  From  the  causes  alluded  ' 
to,  that  of  its  principal  families  from  1280  to  1350  is  more 
especially  obscure  and  uncertain.  We  do  not  know  where 
Sir  Thomas  made  his  usual  residence.  It  may  have  been 
at  Sundirlandhall;  and  as  this  place  was  in  the  barony  of 
Hawick,  in  Roxburghshire,  it  would  account  for  his  being 
styled  of  that  county.  He  would  doubtless  often  hunt  in 


'4 

Rodonna,  along  St.  Mary's  Loch  and  Megget  Water  from 
Henderland  with  his  brother  Nigel,  where,  two  centuries  after- 
wards, James  the  Fifth  killed  his  eighteen  score  of  harts,  and 
then  executed  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland  in  front  of 
the  gate  of  his  own  castle.  Of  Sir  Thomas  again,  presently. 

III.  MGEL  DE  COKBURN,  of  Henderland, 
succeeded  his  father  Sir  Robert  in  the  property  in 
Meggetland.  He  was  evidently  also  an  influential 
personage,  and  had  made  himself  conspicuous  by  his 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  Wallace,  so  his  estates 
were  forfeited  like  his  brother's  by  King  Edward. 

The  Cockburns  were,  we  may  reasonably  think, 
amongst  the  "  saxte  nobil  men  in  wer"  who  under 
Sir  Nichol  de  Rothirforde  joined  the  Patriot's 
standard  from  Atryk-wode. 

Nigel,  like  many  of  the  foremost  men  of  the 
time,  submitted  in  1306-7,  and  had  his  lands 
restored  to  him.  The  properties  of  many  of  the 
forfeited  Scottish  nobles  had  been  given  to  Robert 
Hastang,  made  Sheriff  of  Roxburghshire  and  of 
Peeblesshire  ;  but  on  2Oth  March  1311  was  dated  the 
following  mandate  from  Edward  II.  :  —  "The  King, 
considering  that  his  late  father  gave  to  Robert 
Hastang  for  his  good  service,  the  Scottish  lands  of 
the  following  rebels,  viz.,  Nicholas  de  Soule's  lands 
of  Tulk  and  Cluny,  Roger  le  Mareschal's  in  la 
Halle-del-Mire  of  Rowmanok,  David  de  Breghyn's 
in  Lyiardwode,  Nigel  de  Cokburn's  in  Megget, 
John  de  St  Michael's  in  Heveside,  lohn  le  Mare- 
Bain's  Cai-  schal's  in  Tocstrother,  Roger  de  Aylmor's  in 
Aylmor,  Alexandre  de  Lyndesay's  manor  of  Byres, 
Geoffrey  de  Moubray's  manor  of  Ecford,  Thomas 
Randolf's  manor  of  Broxmouth,  Agnes  de  Vescy's 
lands  in  Applebryggs,  and  Herbert  de  Maxwell's 


'  H" 


15 

manor  of  Maxwell,  as  worth  300  marks  per  annum, 
and  thereafter  resumed  the  whole,  except  Brox- 
mouth  and  Byres,  restoring  them  to  their  former 
owners  who  came  to  his  peace.  Therefore,  to  make 
up  the  deficiency,  grants  to  Robert  Hastang  the 
following  Scottish  rebels  lands,  viz.,  those  of  Robert 
de  Kethe  in  Lothian,  of  Peter  de  Pontekyn  in 
Pontekyn,  barony  of  Musclebrugh,  of  Edmunde  de 
Ramesye  in  Cokpen,  of  Godfrey  Brun  in  Comber- 
Colstone." 

Sir  David  Dairy mple  [Lord  Hailesl  thought  that 

i      11  i)     '       i  r  A       11  T?  Annals,  vol. 

the      Marcnell     spoken  of  by  Archdeacon  Barbour,    \\.,  p.  97, 

Note 

"  Who  had  with  him  the  best  of  Lothiane  Barbour's 

For  Sehyreff  tharoff  than  wes  he,"  Bruce  Buke 

was  a  corruption  of  "  the  March  Earl,"  or  Patric  334, 335.' 
Earl  of  March,  but  the  two  le  Mareschals  mentioned 
in  the  above  document  seem  to  make  this  doubtful. 
They  were  evidently  men  of  consequence,  and  had 
made  themselves  conspicuous  in  their  opposition  to 
Edward  I.  Roger  of  Rowmannok  [or  Romanno] 
Nigel  Cockburn's  neighbour  in  the  county  of 
Peebles,  and  who  was  forfeited  along  with  him, 
or  John  le  Mareschal  of  Tocstrother  may  have 
been  "  the  Marchell  quhay's  cosyne  Syme  of  Spald- 
ing,  burges  of  Berwick,  had  weddyt  till  his  wyffe," 
who  so  signally  assisted  Randolph,  now  Earl  of 
Moray,  and  James  Douglas  in  taking  Berwick  in 
1318.  Maydouse  or  Manduca,  widow  of  Sir  John  Bain's 
le  Mareschal  of  Tocstrother  of  Scotland  had  in  1335  voi.'iii.TNo. 
gift  of  £20  from  Edward  I II.  Il62- 

"  Randolf  obtained  mercy  through  the  interces-  Haiies' 

,      .         ,  Annals,  vol. 

sion    of  Adam    de    Gordon,  and    was   admitted  to  u.,  PP.  20, 21. 
swear  fealty  to  Edward  in  1306,"  as  did  James  "  the 
Gud  "  Steward,  in  the  most  complicated  way,  upon 


i6 

la  Croix  Neyts  et  la  Blacke  rode,  the  two  crosses  of 
Scotland  most  esteemed  for  their  sanctity,  on  the 
consecrated  Host,  on  the  Holy  Gospels,  and  relics  of 
Saints,  &c.  Nigel  Cockburn,  who  had  stood  it  may 
be  beside  the  dauntless  Edward  Bruce,  and  his 
gallant  young  brother  Nigel,  so  mercilessly  put  to 
death  when  Kildrummie  Castle  was  taken  in  the 
same  year,  submitted  temporarily  with  the  rest, 
when  their  great  champion  had  suffered  the  frightful 
death  at  Edward's  hands.  The  times  were  "  out  of 
joint,"  and  unexpected  events  followed  each  other  so 
rapidly,  judgement  cannot  be  passed  at  this  day 
upon  the  principal  actors,  whose  position  was  so 
singularly  difficult.  In  1297  Robert  Bruce  himself, 
an-  called  in  the  Ragman  Roll  "  le  jeovine "  Earl  of 
p.'i59.'V<  '  Carrick,  wasted  Douglasdale  with  fire  and  sword, 
and  carried  off  the  wife  and  children  of  Sir  William 
Douglas,  who  had  espoused  the  cause  of  Wallace, 
which  course  he  also  himself  followed  ere  long. 

Had  Nigel  Cockburn  lived,  he  would,  we  may 
well  believe,  have  been  found  again  with  Sir  Ales- 
aundre  de  Lyndesye  and  the  many  warrior  nobles 
who  had  sworn  fealty  to  "  Schyr  Edward  the 
mychty  King,"  tactis  sacrosanctis,  and  kissing  the 
Holy  Evangeyles,  fighting  for  the  freedom  of  his 
country,  and  following  the  illustrious  Robert  Bruce 
during  the  most  arduous  period  of  his  struggle. 

He  had  escaped  doing  homage  with  his  brave 
brothers  Piers  and  Thomas  in  1296,  being  then  it  is 
very  likely  in  Wallace's  company,  so  Nigel  de  Cok- 
burn,  not  appearing  in  the  Ragman  Roll,  was  unknown 
to  Mr.  Crawford  when  he  wrote  his  notes  upon  the 
persons  whose  names  are  handed  down  in  that 
famous  document. 


I? 

He  says  of  "  Piers  de  Cokburn,"  this  seems   to  be  Historical  ana 
the  root  of  the  Cockburns  of  Langton,  Ormiston,  and  marts  up'Jn 
Clerkington,  of  w/tom  the  rest  of  the  Cockburns' are  J^'st^.yrnn^ 
come.     This  would    have   applied    correctly  to   the  Nisbet,  vol.  \\. 
Piers    de    Cokburn    with    whom  this   memoir  com- 
mences, but  he  could  not  have  been  the  person  who 
did  homage  at  Berwick  in  1296.     Previously  he  had 
noticed  "  Thomas  de  Cokburn  "  as  the  ancestor  of  u>id,,  P.  33. 
the  Cockburns  of  Langton. 

IV.  SIR  THOMAS  DE  COKBURN,  stands 
accordingly  in  the  pedigree  of  the  family  [which 
has  been  based  no  doubt  upon  Mr.  Crawford's 
remarks]  as  son  of  Piers,  and  father  of  Sir 
Alexander. 

Had  either  Piers  of  Cockburn  in  the  Merse  or 
Sir  Thomas  of  Roxburghshire  succeeded  to  the 
lands  on  the  Megget  and  the  Lyne,  they  would 
not  have  been  found  in  quiet  possession  in  1311, 
both  being  then  active  in  the  cause  of  BRUCE.  The 
probability  seems  to  be  that  Nigel,  who  is  not  heard 
of  afterwards,  died  soon  after  his  lands  were 
restored  to  him,  leaving  a  son  too  young  to  be 
dangerous,  who  succeeded  eventually  to  the  estates 
of  the  family.  Sir  Thomas  having  acted  as  his 
guardian  probably,  and  being  the  apparent  repre- 
sentative of  his  house,  has  been  assumed  to  have 
been  the  father  of  his  successor. 

However  the  truth  may  be  as  to  his  own  parent- 
age, there  is  no  question  that  from  Sir  Alexander 
and  his  two  wives,  respectively  Mariota  de  Veteri- 
Ponte  and  Margaret  de  Monfode,  descended  all 
the  families  of  the  Cockburns,  excepting  that  estab- 
lished in  the  county  of  Fife. 


iS 

V.  SIR  ALEXANDER  DE  COKBURN  of 
that  Ilk  and  Henderland,  was  evidently  a  man  of 
parts  and  accomplishments,  and  became  a  very  pro- 
minent personage  in  the  reign  of  David  Bruce,  who 
naturally  desired  to  do  all  he  could  to  evince  his 
sense  of  the  great  services  rendered  by  his  pre- 
decessors to  his  father. 

One  of  the  latest  favours  conferred  upon  him  was 
very  shortly  before  his  death,  when  he  granted  to 
him  and  his  heirs  for  ever  the  office  of  Ostiarius 
Parliamenti. 

He  married  about  1335  Marion  or  Mariota, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  William  de  Veteri-Ponte, 
who  fell  at  Bannockburn.  Her  family  possessed, 
besides  other  estates  in  Scotland,  and  in  several 
counties  in  England,  the  Baronies  of  Langton  in  the 
Merse,  of  Carriden  in  Linlithgowshire,  and  Bolton 
in  the  constabulary  of  Haddington,  which  in  1312, 
on  his  forfeiting  Sir  William  de  Veteri-Ponte, 
Edward  bestowed  upon  Alexander  de  Moubray. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  memoirs  of  Sir  Alex- 
ander and  his  descendants,  who  by  this  marriage 
came  to  possess  their  estates,  it  will  be  convenient 
here  to  give  some  notes  regarding— 

THE  DE  VETERI-PONTES  OF  LANGTON,  CARRIDEN, 
AND  BOLTON. 

"  Poyntz,  the  Norman,"  appears  to  have  been  the 
ancestor  of  this  distinguished  race,  who  took  name 
from  the  Lordship  of  Vieuxpont-en-Auge,  near  Caen. 
There  appear  to  have  been  two  of  the  name  com- 
omnso/  panions    of  the    conqueror  on  the  field  of   Senlac, 
the  Conqueror,  more  familiarly  known    to    us    as    "  the    Battle    of 

vol.  ii.,  p.  100.  * 

Hastings,"  namely,  Robert  de  Vieuxpont  and  William 


1 7  a 

de  Vieuxpont.  The  latter  was  the  warrior  who 
saved  the  life  of  William  Mallet  on  that  i4th  of 
October  1066.  He  is  presumed  to  have  been  the 
ancestor  of  the  Scottish  branch,  and  Robert  of  the 
Lords  of  Appleby  and  Brougham,  in  Westmoreland, 
and  possessors  of  other  vast  estates  in  Cumberland 
and  other  counties  in  the  south.  In  the  Scottish 
records  the  name  is  nearly  always  written  de  Veteri- 
Ponte,  although  the  French  rendering  of  Vepount  or 
Vieuxpont  is  occasionally  met  with.  Scotch  gene- 
alogists in  after  times  give  it  less  euphoniously 
Weapont. 

The  most  puissant  family  of  the  name  were  the 
Lords  of  Appleby  and  Brougham,  whose  estates  in 
England  and  Normandy  were  of  great  extent,  and 
were  largely  increased  during  the  reign  of  King  John, 
who  gave  William  de  Veteripont  precept  to  the  pianche's 
Steward  of  Normandy,  ordering  him  to  give  him  full  a 
possession  of  the  Lordship  of  Vepount  there,  as  vol.  a.,  p.  103. 
Robert  his  brother  had  when  he  went  into  France 
after  the  war.  They  were  the  sons  of  Robert  de 
Veteripont,  by  his  wife  Maude,  daughter  of  Hugh 
de  Moreville,  who  was  the  fourth  of  his  family 
holding  the  high  office  of  Great  Constable  of  the 
kingdom.  It  is  said  that  "  Heughe  de  Moreweill, 
Lord  of  Laudirdaill,  being  one  of  the  killers  of 
Thomas  Becket,  Archbishope  of  Canterberry,  he 
then  liuing  at  ye  Englische  Courte,  returns  home 
prudently.  He  foundit  ye  Monasteries  of  Kil- 
winning  in  Cunninghame  ordinis  Tyronensis,  and 
vat  of  Driburghe,  in  Teuittdale  ordinis  Prsemonstra-  Fragments  of 

.  11,1  -11  Scottish  His- 

tensis,  and  endowed  them  bothe  werey  ncheley,  and  tor?,  p.  71. 
dyed  A°  2  regnis  regis  Villelmi.     William  de  More- 
weill, Lord  of  Laudirdaill,  succeidit  his   father,  and 
was   Grate  Constable  of  Scotland  in  A°  1167,  in  ye 


beginning  of  wich  zeir  his  lather  departed  this  lyffe." 
But  by  the  "  Chronicle  of  Melrose  "  it  appears  that 
de  "  A.D.  n62  obiit  Hugo  de  Moruele,  fundator  ecclesie 
p.78.  ^  Driburg,"  so  it  was  not  in  expiation  of  the  murder 
of  this  prelate  that  he  was  so  liberal  a  donor  to  these 
religious  establishments,  as  the  generally  accepted 
date  of  this  event  is  igth  December  1170,  so  if  a  de 
Moreville  was  concerned  in  the  affair,  it  must  have 
been  his  son,  not  himself. 

Bain's  On  the  1 5th  March  1 205  the  King  commanded  that 

rol.  L,No.36i.  a^  the  knights  and  freeholders  of  Westmoreland 
should  do  homage  to  Sire  Robert  de  Veteripont  for 
their  lands  and  tenements,  in  terms  of  his  charter  from 
the  King.  He  was  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the  bond  of 
King  William  the  Lion  in  1209,  whereby  "he  bound 
himself  to  pay  to  his  lord,  John,  King  of  England, 

ibid.,  vol.  i.,  15,000  marks,  for  having  the  goodwill  of  the  said 
lord  the  King  of  England,  and  fulfilling  the  con- 
vention between  them  for  receiving  payment  of  the 
said  sum."  King  William  gave  the  hostages  named 
in  the  charter,  except  his  two  daughters,  whom  he 
had  already  delivered. 

ibid.,  vol.  i.,  On  the  1 3th  June  1213  Saher  de  Quenci,  Earl  of 
Winchester,  was  ordered  to  send  William,  the  son  of 
William  de  Veteri-Ponte,  to  Portsmouth,  on  the 
Vigil  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  as  one  of  the  hostages 
for  the  payment  of  this  bond.  At  the  same  time 
Robert  de  Veteri-Ponte,  Lord  of  Appleby  and 
Brugham,  was  ordered  to  send  the  son  of  Earl 
Patric  [of  Dunbar  and  Northumberland],  and  their 
respective  fathers  or  guardians  were  commanded  to 
send  the  son  of  William  de  Vaux,  Nigel,  son  of 
Philip  de  Moubray,  Gervase,  son  of  Gervase  Avenel 
Piers,  brother  of  Robert  de  Bruce,  and  the  son  of 
David  de  Lindsei,  for  whose  appearance  Earl  David 


19 

was  responsible.  These  young  nobles  were  doubtless 
very  jubilant  as  they  rode  along  to  the  English 
Court,  for  King  John's  was  a  gay  one,  and  they  knew 
that  they  would  meet  there  their  own  Princesses 
Margaret  and  Ysabell.  These  fair  hostages  resided 
some  time  at  the  Castle  of  Bristol,  and  afterwards  at 
Nottingham,  moving  about  with  the  Court,  Geoffrey 
Fitz-Piers,  Earl  of  Essex,  having  preferred  to  pay  a 
fine  of  ten  palfreys  and  ten  goshawks  to  the  risk  of 
being  their  custodian.  The  King,  however,  remitted 
the  delivery  of  the  palfreys,  sympathising  perhaps  Bain's 
with  Geoffrey's  alarm  at  having  to  guard  a  King's 
daughters.  They  seem  to  have  been  treated  with  the  4^3, 
utmost  attention,  and  liberally  provided  with  all  the 
garments  they  set  their  hearts  upon,  as  well  as 
dainties.  They  rode  up  to  Windsor  on  one  occasion, 
and  had  robes  for  the  journey  trimmed  with  hind's 
fur  [penulis  de  bissis]  and  with  rabbit's  fur,  which 
cost  ,£36  :  1 8  :  4,  and  ,£14  :  19  :  3  was  allowed  for 
their  other  expenses  there,  besides  a  large  bill  paid 
to  their  grocer,  who  had  supplied  them  with  fifty 
pounds  of  almonds  and  a  hundred  pounds  weight  of 
figs.  It  is  wonderful  that  they  lived  to  leave 
Windsor.  On  another  occasion  the  Mayor  of 
Winchester  was  required  to  provide  for  the  Queen, 
the  King's  niece,  Eleanor  of  Brittany,  and  the  two 
daughters  of  the  King  of  Scots,  such  robes  and  hoods 
as  Robert  de  Veteripont  might  direct  by  his  letters 
patent.  The  Baron  of  Appleby  gallantly  lost  no 
time  in  ascertaining  the  ladies'  requirements ;  the 
order  was  received  on  2Qth  June,  and  on  6th  July 
the  Mayor  was  ordered  to  provide  tunics  and  super- 
tunics  of  dark  green,  with  capes  of  cambric  furred 
with  miniver  and  rabbit  skins  for  them,  and  others 
furred  with  lamb  skins,  and  tunics  and  super-tunics 

G 


20 

of  bright  green  for  their  three  maids,  and  for  the 
use  of  the  King's  niece,  and  the  daughters  of  the 
King  of  Scots,  and  their  three  maids,  their  summer 
shoes,  and  for  the  King's  niece  a  saddle  with  golden 
reins.  The  young  ladies  were  looking  to  have  a 
canter  through  the  forest,  as  well  as  dancing.  The 
younger  fair  hostage  appears  to  have  been  attired 
in  panace,  trimmed  with  black  squirrel's  fur,  when 
she  captivated  Roger  le  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk. 
Margaret  became  the  wife  of  Hubert  de  Burgo, 
Earl  of  Kent,  whom  she  visited  upon  a  safe  conduct 
with  their  daughter  Magota  at  the  time  when  he 
was  in  a  very  unpleasant  position,  a  prisoner  in 
Devizes,  with  three  iron  chains  affixed  to  his  limbs 
by  the  King's  express  command,  allowed  food  only 
once  in  the  day,  and  that  not  luxurious  or  plentiful, 
consisting  of  only  a  halfpenny  loaf  and  a  measure  of 
beer ;  this,  certainly,  was  ordered  to  be  large.  No 
man  was  allowed  to  speak  to  him,  and  his  Psalter 
even  was  taken  away  from  him.  But  he  managed 
to  make  his  escape.  Geoffrey  de  Brus,  his  custodiar, 
perhaps  had  a  shrewd  idea  that  his  failing  to  pro- 
duce the  body  of  his  prisoner  would  meet  with  no 
severe  consequences.  It  was  not  very  long  before 
Earl  Hubert,  having  surrendered  some  of  his  castles 
in  Wales,  "  was  remitted  the  King's  rancour,  in- 
dignation and  anger,"  and  received  into  full  favour 
and  friendship.  In  1227  Henry  III.  gave  him 
Bain's  Calm-  "  the  ward  of  the  son  and  heir  of  Robert  de 
NaggS.1'  Veteripont,  with  the  castles  of  Peverelthorpe,  Mal- 
vestong,  Appelby,  Bruham  and  Burgh,  which  were 
Robert's." 

,  No.  453.  The  said  Robert  de  Veteripont  had  in  1217 
Carlisle  Castle  and  the  county  of  Cumberland  com- 
mitted to  him  to  keep  during  pleasure.  He  had  the 


21 

custody  of  Prince  Arthur,  son  of  Geoffry,  King 
John's  elder  brother,  taken  prisoner  when  he  was  at 
Miravelt  [Mirabeau]  in  1203,  for  which  reason  he 
had  grant  of  the  Castle  and  Barony  of  Appleby. 
It  must  be  hoped  that  in  accepting  so  many  favours 
subsequently  from  his  reputed  murderer  that  Robert 
de  Veteri-Ponte  had  no  misgivings  as  to  what  might 
be  the  fate  of  the  unhappy  heir  to  the  throne,  then 
a  mere  boy  of  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he 
brought  him  to  Rouen.  He  married  Idonea, 
daughter  of  John  de  Builly,  Lord  of  Tickhill,  and 
died  in  1228.  His  son  John,  the  ward  of  Hubert  de  ?ulror< vo1' »• 

p.  i°3- 

Burgo,  as  above-mentioned,  second  Lord  of  Appleby 
and  Bruham,  was  also  a  power  in  the  north.  In 
1256  "  Thomas  de  Hastings  and  others,  Robert  de  Bain,  vol. ;., 
Veteripont's  men  of  West- 
moreland," held  all  their  lands 
in  Cornage.  The  King  [Henry 
III.]  granted  that  for  a  price  of 
two  marks  of  gold,  at  no  time  of 
their  life  shall  they  be  distrained 
to  take  knighthood  [arma  mili- 
Coat  of  Robert  deVeteri.ponteltarjal  against  their  will.  The 

Lord  of  Westmoreland,  J      ° 

A.D.  1216.  male    line    of    the    house    of 

Westmoreland  ended  with  this  Robert,  third  Lord, 
who  was  slain  at  the  battle  of  Evesham,  fighting 
under  the  banner  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  1265.  His 
lands  were  forfeited,  but  restored  to  his  daughters, 
Sybella  and  Idonea,  his  co-heiresses.  The  former 
married  Roger  de  Clifford.  Through  this  match  the 
Castle  of  Appleby  and  the  great  estates  in  West- 
moreland and  Cumberland  came  eventually  to  the 
Tuftons,  Earls  of  Thanet.  Idonea  married  Roger  sir  F.  Pai- 
de  Leyburn  ;  secondly,  John  de  Cromwell.  She  teaiuatvoL 
had  her  portion  of  the  estates  given  back  to  her  I%1  p" 2'7' 


OOO 
O  O 


22 

during  her  first  husband's  lifetime,   "  Regine  Con- 
sortis  pro  dicta  Idonea  supplicante." 

Cotton  MS.,         The  first  Lord  of  Westmoreland  had  a  brother 
foi. 47' British  Ivo,  one  of  King  John's   Council,  whose  line   also 
ended  with  Elizabeth  and  Johanna,  co-heiresses. 

The  Scottish  branch,  although  it  did  not  attain  to 
the  great  position  and  power  of  the  Westmoreland 
one,  was  always  distinguished,  so  far  as  can  be 
gathered  from  history,  by  the  gallantry  and  chivalrous 
conduct  of  its  chiefs,  over  whose  fame  there  hangs 
no  shadow  of  suspicion,  such  as  that  which  mars  the 
reputation  of  Robert  de  Veteripont,  the  friend  of 
King  John. 

The  first  known  to  us  is  John,  presumed  to  have 
been  the  son  of  William  de  Vieuxpont,  the  Conque- 
ror's companion,  who  came  north,  and  was  one  of  the 
band  of  Norman  colonists  endowed  with  lands  by 
Nisbet's          Malcolm    Canmore.      In    1126   the   Mortimers  got 
1722,  ^'212. '  Aberdour,  County  Fife,  by  the  match  of  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Mortuomaris,  as  the  name  is  written  in 
Sir  R-  fib-      old  Scottish  deeds,  with  Anicia,  daughter  and  heiress 

bald's  History  •     •   »    i  'ITT  •   ^,  T~ 

3.  oi  Domini  Johannis  de  Veten-ronte.  There  was  a 
William  de  Vepount  who  claimed  lands  in  Devon- 
shire in  1131,  and  agreed  that  his  rights  should  be 
determined  by  battle.  He  possibly  may  have  been 
this  John's  brother,  and  the  Baron  who  afterwards 
acquired  great  estates  in  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  the 
north  of  England.  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  was 
possessed  of  Carridin  in  Linlithgowshire  about  1 140, 
and  soon  afterwards  acquired  Langton  in  the  Merse 
from  Roger  de  Oy  or  Ov,  whose  gift  of  the  patron- 
kdso  age  of  the  church  of  Langton  to  the  "  ecclesiae 

o,  Sancte  Marie  de  Kelkou,"  he  confirmed.  With  con- 
319,  321.  sent  of  his  wife  Matillidis,  he  also  bestowed  upon 
the  same  establishment  certain  quarries  [Eschalin- 


CHARTER  by  WILLIAM  DE  VETERIPONTE,  restoring  to  the 
MONKS  of  COLDINGHAM  the  Lands  which  he  had  unjustly 
taken  from  them. 

TRANSLATION. 

To  all  the  faithful,  William  de  Veteriponte,  greeting  :  Wit  ye 
that  I,  led  by  penitence,  do  render  to  God  and  Saint  Cuthbert, 
and  his  Monks  of  Coldingham,  that  land  concerning  which  there 
was  contention  between  me  and  the  said  Monks  in  the  time  of 
David  the  King,  which  I  had  unjustly  seized  from  them — free 
and  quit  from  all  claim  for  ever;  by  the  old  march,  that  is  to 
say,  from  the  ridge  of  the  hill  over  against  Horuordresdene, 
as  far  as  to  the  valley,  as  the  stream  runs  down  into  Tweed;  in  such 
sort,  however,  that  the  way  may  be  open  free  for  the  people  of 
Horuerdresdene  to  the  same  Tweed :  These  being  witnesses, 
Ernald  Abbot  of  Kelso,  Richard,  John,  Rainald,  Monks  thereof, 
Rabel  del  Chene,  Thomas  Abbet,  John  de  Baiols,  Richard  de 
Alclre,  Ulkil  de  Haudene,  William  son  of  Thor,  Alan  son  of 
Cospatric. 


gas  in  Lambermore  que  vocat  Dieueringdownes], 
which  pertained  to  Hworuorderesdene,  and  the 
church  of  this  place  [Horndean].  His  charter  was 
witnessed  by  Fulcon  [Fulke]  de  Vyerpunt,  as  his 
own  name  is  likewise  written,  and  confirmed  by 
William  the  Lion.  He  also  gave  the  Abbot  and  his 
monks  some  land  near  Wedderburn.  From  his 
barony  of  Carridin  he  gave  donations  to  the  Abbacy 
of  Holyrood,  and  to  the  same  "  Ecclesia  de  Sancti 
Crucis  de  Castell  puellarum"  he  granted  the  Church 
of  Boeltun,  with  the  consent  of  his  first  wife, 

Emma  de  St.  Hilary, 
and  also  the  lands  of 
Okelffas  [Ogilface]. 
Godwin  de  Carre- 
den  witnessed  this 
deed  of  gift,  which 
his  son  confirmed 
in  1204.  He  had  a 
dispute  with  the 
monks  of  Colding- 
ham  about  lands  near 
Horvorderesdene  in 
the  reign  of  King 
David,  but  in  that  of 
his  grandson  Mal- 
colm, ductus  peniten- 
tia,  he  gave  them  to 
St.  Cuthbert  and  his 
monks.  His  charter 
was  witnessed  by 
^Ernaldus.then  Abbot 
of  Kelso.  As  this  Arnold  was  appointed  Bishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  went  there  in  1159  to  commence 
the  building  of  its  splendid  Cathedral,  it  must  have 


Seal  of  William  de  Veteri-Ponte, 
A.D.  1150-59. 


Ibid.,  vol.  i., 
p.  37,  No.  13. 


Liber  de  Eccle- 
sia Sancti 
Crucis  de  Ed- 
luinesburg, 
Nos.  41,  33. 


Raine's  North 
Durham,  Ap- 
pendix, Cold- 
ingham,  p.  36, 
Nos.  civ.  and 
clvi. 


24 

been  before  that  date  that  he  made  this  gift  to  the 
Priory  of  Coldingham.  These  grants  were  confirmed 
by  his  son  when  Ingleram  was  Bishop  of  Glasgow, 
1 164-1 174.  So  this  munificent  patron  of  the  church 
must  have  died  before  the  latter  year.  He  was  twice 
married,  and  both  his  wives  were  heiresses.  The 
first,  "  Emma  de  Sancto  Hilario,"  inherited  the 
barony  of  Boltoun,  in  the  constabulary  of  Hadding- 
ton,  the  possession  of  the  St.  Hilarys.  In  a  charter 
dated  251)1  July,  in  the  tenth  year  of  King  John's 
reign,  styled  therein  "  Rex  Anglie,  Dominus  Hiber- 
niae,  Dux  Normannorum  et  Aquitanorum,  Comes 
Additional  Anglevorum,"  is  mentioned  a  donation  by  Matilidis, 
Charter  Comitisse  de  Clare,  filie  Jacobi  de  Sancto  Hillario. 

British  J 

Museum,6oi4.  In  the  reign  of  Edward   II.,    Robert   Clifford,   son 
of    Sybella   de    Veteri-Ponte,    heiress    of    Appleby 
and  Brougham,  married  "  Maude    de    Clare,    cozin 
HarieyMS.      and    co-heire  of    Thomas    de     Clare,    a    nobleman 
Museim?, 54,  and  seneschall  of  the  fforest  of  Essex."     The  second 
foi.  29.  was  Matillidis  de  Sancti  Andrea  [Bishop  Arnald's 

daughter  ?].  She  brought  him  these  lands  of  Horn- 
dean  in  the  Merse.  By  Emma  St.  Hilary  he  had 
two  sons,  both  named  William,  being  distinguished 
as  "  Primogenitus  "  and  "  Medius,"  and  another,  Ivo. 
A  third  William,  his  son  by  Matillidis,  was  styled 
"  Junior."  What  relationship  Alan  and  Ivo,  pos- 
sessors of  lands  in  Galloway,  bore  to  him  is  uncer- 
tain  ;  they  were  probably  his  grandsons.  Alan  had 
two  sons  whom  we  find  distinctly  mentioned,  Robert 
72-  and  Ivo.  In  1220  he  is  recorded  as  confirming  the 

grant  by  Robert  of  the  Church  "  Sancti  Michaelis  de 
Minore  Sourby,   Deo   et  ecclesia   Beate    Marie  de 
Kid.,  NO.  75.   Driburgh."      Ivo,  his  brother,  bestowed   upon    the 
same  abbacy  "  Ecclesiam  Sancti  Foylani, '  St.  Fillan's' 


25 

de  Majore  Sourby."     Robert  seems  to  have  become 
a  brother  of  this    fraternity  of  Premonstratensians. 
The  two  Sourbys  now  form  the  parish  of  Sorbie, 
Wigtonshire,  which  has  Garlieston  for  its   seaport. 
William    de    Veteri-Ponte    himself  was  one  of  the  Liber  St.  Marie 
earliest  patrons  of  Driburgh,  as  well  as  of  Holyrood  NO.  249"^ 
and    Kelso,  and   gave  to    its  Abbot   the   lands  of 
Nebrun  [Neutun],  County  Roxburgh. 

William  de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Langton  and  Carri- 
den,  Bolton,  &c.,  in  Scotland,  was  the  owner  of  very 
extensive  properties  in  Yorkshire  and  Northampton- 
shire, as  also  in  Cumbria,  which  were  partitioned 
amongst  his  sons.  Robert  and  Ivo,  above  alluded  Nicholson  and 
to,  used  seals,  bearing  the  device  of  "a  lion,"  similar  I 
to  that  of  the  progenitor  of  the  Barons  of  Langton, 
which  is  very  strong  evidence  of  their  paternity. 
They  may  have  descended  from  The  Fulcon  de 
Vyerpunt,  who  witnessed  the  grant  of  the  "  Escha- 
lingas  "  in  Lammermoor  by  William  de  Veteri-Ponte, 
first  of  Langton,  and  was  perhaps  his  brother.  Ful- 
cone  de  Veteri-Ponte  witnessed  the  charter  of 
Ricardus  de  Humetis,  Constable  of  the  Kingdom  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.1  Museum. 

William  "  Primogenitus,  "  who  inherited  the 
estates  above  named  in  the  counties  of  Berwick, 
Linlithgow,  and  Haddington,  confirmed  his  father's 
many  grants  for  the  welfare  of  the  souls  "  Domi- 
norum  King  William  and  his  Queen,  and  their  son 
Alexander,  and  their  other  children,  and  for  the 
benefit  likewise  of  the  souls  of  Kings  David  and 
Malcolm,  and  of  Earl  Henry  and  those  of  his  own 
father  and  mother,  and  of  all  his  ancestors  and  suc- 
cessors." The  deeds  were  sometimes  witnessed  by 
his  brothers,  William  "  Medius  "  and  "  Junior,"  as  in 

1  Before  A.D.  1181. 


26 

Cartulary  of    the  confirmation  of  "  Boeltun,"  and  also  upon  two 

28? 'NO!'  33?'     occasions   by    "  Matillidis    de    Sancto  Andrea,"    the 

Liber  de  Keiso,  latter's  mother,   as  she  is  therein   distinctly  desig- 

NOS.  139,141.  nated)  showing  that   the   statement  that  the  three 

Williams  were  all  sons  of  Emma  de  St.  Hilary  is  an 

error.     The  latter's  consent  was  given,  it  appears  by 

Cartulary  of     the  charter  of  which  a  facsimile  is  given  opposite,  to 

33! "Not  41?'     his  father's  providing  for  the  comfort  in  winter  of  the 

monks  of  that  abbey,  which,  as  the  story  goes,  was 

built  upon  the    spot  where    "  incontinent   the    haly 

Cross  slaid   into  the    Kingis  handis,  when  he  kest 

them  abak  betwix  the  awfu  and  braid  tyndis  of  that 

farest   hart   that  euir  wes  sene   afore  with  lewand 

creatour."     The  tithes  of  the  coal  mine  at  Carridin, 

hereby  bestowed  upon  the  said  church  of  the  Holy 

Cross  of  Edinsburg,  were  no  doubt  paid  in  kind,  and 

this  liberal  provision  served  to  roast  the  fat  bucks  for 

the  Abbot  and  his  companions. 

The  working  of  coal  at  Carridin,  Caer-Aden  [or 
Edinfort  on  the  Wing],  dated  from  very  early  times, 
as  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  ease  with  which  it 
was  first  obtained  from  the  surface  out-crops  there. 
The  following  is  the  translation  of  this  interesting 
document : — 

To  all  the  faithful  of  Christ,  who  shall  see  or  hear  this  writ,  W. 
de  Veteriponte,  the  first-born  of  the  three  children  of  Lady  Emma 
de  Saint  Hylary,  salutation. — Know  all  of  you  that  I,  from  the 
motive  of  charity,  have  given,  granted,  and  by  this  present  charter 
confirmed  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Rood  of  Edinburgh,  and  the 
canons  there  serving  God,  the  whole  tenth  of  my  coal  of  Karriddin, 
and  the  tenth  penny  of  all  ships  and  boats  laden  and  discharged 
on  my  land  of  Blackness,  in  pure  and  perpetual  alms  gift,  which, 
that  it  may  remain  firm  hereafter,  I  have  corroborated  this  present 
writ  with  my  seal,  these  being  witnesses,  William  Medius,  and 
W.  Junior,  my  brothers  ;  Roger  de  la  Crai,  Ralf  Brete  (or  Bretem), 
and  many  others. 


<u 


27 

The  three  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  brothers  left 
many  descendants,  who  appear  to  have  intermarried 
frequently  with  the  families  who  had  Robert,  Lord 
of  Westmoreland,  and  his  brothers,  Ivo  and  William, 
for  their  founders.  Ivo  was  deemed  by  Matthew 
Paris  as  equally  wicked  a  counsellor  of  King  John  as 
his  brother  Robert.  Their  mother,  as  before  stated, 
was  daughter  of  the  Great  Constable  of  Scotland, 
Hugh  de  Moreville.  William  married  his  kins- 
woman Matillidis  de  Veteripont,  and  had  several 
sons.  One  named  Ivo  married  Isabel  de  Loncastre, 
Another  William's  wife's  name  was  Mahald.  He 
gave,  with  her  consent,  a  donation  of  land  to  the 
friars  of  St.  Peter's  Hospital,  York,  for  the  soul's 
weal  of  Earl  Henry,  his  own  father  and  mother,  and 
of  Fuco  and  Ivo,  his  brothers.  His  own  son  Ivo 
granted  Gauthorn  and  the  mill  by  special  boundaries  Bain's  Caien- 

i  /-    r-         T  i>TT-iiriri-       "•*!  vo'-  "•' 

to  the  poor  of  St.  Leonards  Hospital,  York,  for  his  NO. 690. 
soul's  weal,  and  those  of  Hugh  de  Morville,  William 
de  Veteripont,  his  father,  and  Matillidis  de  Veteri- 
pont, his  mother,  Robert,  his  brother,  and  Isobel  de 
Loncastre,  his  own  wife.  The  brave  and  generous 
Prince  Henry  was  always  remembered  by  the  de 
Veteri-Pontes,  and  many  were  the  candles  burned 
on  altars  in  Scotland  for  his  soul's  benefit.  From 
one  of  these  Williams  of  Langton,  or  it  may  be  from 
their  supposed  uncle,  Fulcon  de  Vyerpunt,  who 
witnessed  their  father's  grant  of  Langton  Church, 
appears  to  have  descended  one  of  the  families  in 
Tynedale  ;  another  came  from  Ivo  above  named.  At 
the  request  of  his  nephew  Alexander,  son  of  King 
Alexander  the  Third,  Edward  the  First  restored,  in 
1291,  to  Nicolas  de  Veteripont  the  lands  of  Aldenes- 
tone  [Alston],  in  the  King  of  Scots'  liberty  of  Tyne- 

H 


28 


Bain's  Calen- 
dar, vol.  ii., 
No.  205. 

Chart  Pedi- 
gree, see 
Appendix. 


Liber  de  Cal- 
chou  \Kelso\, 
No.  143. 


Bain's  Calen- 
dar, vol.  i., 
No.  743. 


dale,  in    the    county  of   Cumberland,    reserving   to 
himself  the  mines  in  the  said  manor  of  Aldenestone. 
The  estates  of  Nicolas  of  Alston  fell  to  two  co- 
heiresses,  as  did    those  of   the   puissant   Lords    of 
Westmoreland. 

III.  WILLIAM  DE  VETERI-PONTE  succeeded  his 
father,  whom  it  is  convenient  to  style  "  Primogeni- 
tus,"  in  Langton,  Carriden,  and  Bolton.  In  1203  he 
made  an  amicable  agreement  with  the  abbot  and 
monks  of  Kelso,  whereby  he  discharged  them  from 
their  obligation  "  de  ossibus  patris  sui  de  Anglia 
reportandis,  et  in  cimitrio  Kalchcensi  tumulandis." 
The  ecclesiastics  had  undertaken  to  bring  the  bones 
of  his  father  to  Scotland,  and  to  bring  them  within 
the  precincts  of  their  consecrated  grounds  at  Kelso 
Abbey,  the  least  they  could  do,  considering  his  and 
his  father's  liberality  to  them,  was  to  have  shown  all 
honour  in  their  power  to  his  remains.  This  duty  as 
promised  they  had  not  fulfilled,  but  now,  instead  of 
such  material  service,  they  engaged  that  the  welfare 
of  his  said  father's  soul  should  for  ever  be  specially 
attended  to  in  their  prayers  for  the  benefactors  to 
the  abbey.  In  the  following  year  he  had  a  safe 
conduct  to  pass  himself  into  England  and  return 
from  thence  unmolested  "  cum  ossibus  patris,"  who 
died  probably  at  one  of  his  estates  in  the  more 
southern  counties.  In  12 19  the  Abbess  of  St.  Mary 
de  Pratis  claimed  from  him  a  hide  of  land  in  Har- 
dington,  Northamptonshire,  as  the  right  of  her 
Church.  He  went  and  defended  his  rights  thereto, 
and  called  to  warrant  Alexander  II.,  King  of  Scots. 
She  also  claimed  a  hide  against  Ivo  de  Veteripont  in 
the  same  village,  and  Ivo,  by  his  attorney,  called  to 


warrant  the  said  William  de  Veteripont,  who  called 
the  aforesaid  King  of  Scots  by  aid  of  court,  in  the 
Octaves  of  St.  Hilary,  regarding  both  lands. 

IV.  WILLIAM  DE  VETERI-PONTE  of  Langton,  &c., 
succeeded  his  father  in  1221.  He  was  the  young 
noble  who,  as  mentioned  before,  Saher  de  Quenci 
was  ordered  by  the  King  to  send  as  one  of  the 
Scottish  Princess'  companion  hostages.  In  1233 
he  is  found  doing  homage  for  his  various  lands  in 
England  as  Patric,  Earl  of  Dunbar  [one  of  his  com- 
panions on  that  occasion  on  his  journey  to  Ports-  Bain's  < 

,-.,.,.  dar,  vol.  i., 

mouthj,  did  in  February  of  the  same  year,  for  the  NO.  1179. 
territories  in  Northumberland,  which  Earl  Patric, 
his  father,  held  "  in  capite,"  and  fell  to  him  by  inheri- 
tance. His  said  father  owed,  in  1204,  ten  marks  and 
two  brachets  [deerhounds],  and  six  leporarios  [grey-  /W</.,NO.  348. 
hounds],  for  having  an  inquisition  by  lawful  knights 
of  the  county,  whether  the  service  that  Liulf,  father 
of  Thomas,  made  to  Edgar,  son  of  Earl  Gospatric, 
for  the  manors  of  the  three  Middletons  and  of  Rod- 
dim,  should  not  remain  on  the  same  footing,  and 
Thomas  make  the  ascertained  service  and  homage 
to  Earl  Patric  for  these  manors.  The  charter  of 
Roddam  to  the  progenitor  of  the  family  of  Roddam, 
which  continued  to  hold  their  ancient  heritage  in  the 
male  line  until  the  middle  of  last  century,  was  from 
King  Athelstane,  as  mentioned  in  the  memoir  of  that 
family  given  by  Sir  Bernard  Burke. 

I,  Konig  Athelstane, 
Giffes  heir  to  Paulane, 
Odeham,  and  Roddam, 
Als  gude  and  als  fare 
Als  euer  ye  mine  ware, 
And  yair  to  witness 
Maude  my  wife. 


Sir  Bernard 
Burke's 
Landed 
Gentry, 


Bain's 
Calendar, 
vol.  i.,  No. 
1654. 


Fordun, 
Gentis  Scot- 
arum  Gesta 
Annalia, 

XXV. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i., 
No.  137. 


In    1244  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  was  with  the 
aforesaid  Earl  Patric  of  Dunbar,  and  many  of  the 
principal   nobles  of  Scotland  [amongst    them  Alan 
Lord  of  Galloway,  the   Earls  of  Fife,    Stratherne, 
Mar,   Buchan,  Athol,  Henry  de  Balliol,  Robert  de 
Bruis  ;  the  Bishops  of  Glasgow,  St.  Andrews,  Dun- 
blane],   "  caused  by  Alexander,   King  of  Scots,  to 
swear  on  his  sovl,  that  in  case  he  did  not  keep  the 
peace  to  his  liege  lord   Henry  III.,   King  of  Eng- 
land, and  fulfil  his  agreement  regarding  the  marriage 
of  his  son  Alexander  and  the  daughter  of  the  said 
King  of  England,  they  should  not  give  aid  or  counsel 
themselves    therein,    but    con- 
stantly   labour     against    their 
King  and  his  heirs  to  compel 
|  perpetual    observance."      The 
'seals   of  Alexander,    King    of 
Scots,     William     de      Veteri- 
Ponte,  and  William  de   Lind- 
esia,  were  appended  at  once  to 
the  deed  [incontinent!].     The 
patriotic    Alexander    and    his 
nobles  acknowledged  the  suzerainty  of  King  Henry 
of  course  only  in  so  far  as  possessions  in  England 
were  concerned.     It  had  been  arranged  at  Norham  in 
the  preceding  year  that  the  King  of  Scotland,  for  all 
lands  and  possessions  held  by  him  from  the  King  of 
England,  should  render  homage  as  his  predecessors 
had  done,  and  that  henceforth  "  quod  nunquam  de 
cetero  Rex,  sed  heres  regni  Scociae  qui  pro  tempore 
fuerit,  pro   predictis  terris,   honoribus,   et  possessis 
fidelitatem  Anglorum  rege  facta,  et  homagium." 

William  de  Veteri-Ponte,  whose  father  had  con- 
firmation charters  of  Langton,  Carriden,  and  Bolton 


Seal  of  William  de  Veteri 
Ponte,  A.D.  1 200. 


from  William  the  Lion,  had  several  sons.  The 
eldest  bore  as  usual  the  name  of  William ;  one 
brother  was  named  Robert ;  their  father,  some  have 
thought,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Evesham  along 
with  his  kinsman  Robert,  Lord  of  Appleby  and 
Brougham,  but  this  is  not  substantiated,  and  appears 
to  be  merely  an  idea  founded  upon  vague  tradition, 
favoured  by  the  well-known  warmth  with  which 
Alexander  II.  espoused  the  cause  of  the  disaffected 
barons  against  King  John,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  re- 
marks. But  it  certainly  was  about  the  time  of  this 
battle  that  he  was  succeeded  in  his  estates  by— 

V.  WILLIAM  DE  VETERI-PONTE,  who  died,  or  was 
slain  more  probably  in  some  of  the  engagements  in 
the  earlier  days  of  Wallace's  struggle  for  the  freedom 
of  his  country.  His  wife's  name  was  Petronilla  or 
Peronel;  they  appear  to  have  had  three  sons,  all 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  Wallace — William,  whose 
wife's  name  was  Anina,  Alan  of 
Carriden,  and  Henry,  called  of 
Dumbarton. 

Petronilla  de  Veteri-Ponte  having 
done  homage  and  signed  the  deed 
of  submission  at  Berwick,  append- 
ing thereto  her  seal  of  arms, 
received  an  order  from  King 
Seal  of  Pertroniiia  de  Edward  to  the  Sheriff  of  the 

Vetere-Ponte.  r    T>          •   i      r  j.-^.    <_• 

county  of  Berwick  for  restitution 
of  her  husband's  lands  there,  and  a  similar  com- 
mand to  the  Sheriff  of  Edinburghshire  for  those 
lying  within  his  jurisdiction.  The  French  spelling  of 
the  name  is  adhered  to  in  these  documents,  she  being 

stvled  Peronel  de  Veupont  del  Counte  de  Berwyk.  voi.  n.,  P. 
J  1208. 


32 

Veteri-Ponte,  however,  appears  upon  the  margin 
around  her  device  of  arms,  "two  mascles  in  pale." 
The  widows  of  the  Merse  who  had  similar  orders  to 
the  Sheriff  of  Berwickshire  were  Mariota  of  Benedict 

atSPffis-      le  Clerk'  Mary  of  Philip  de  Keth'  Alice  of  PhiliP 
tary,p.2oi.      Haliburton,    Helen   of    Stephen    Papedei,   Joan   of 

Thomas  of  East  Nisbet,  Margaret  of  Adam  de 
Gurdon,  according  to  Redpath,  who  quotes  Rymer. 
Anina,  widow  of  William  de  Veteripont  of  the 
counties  of  Berwick  and  Haddington,  however,  was 
also  thus  favoured.  She  was  the  wife  of  William 
and  Petronilla's  eldest  son,  who  had  also  fallen. 
These  ladies'  castles  were  reserved,  and  to  be 
at  the  disposal  of  the  guardian  of  the  kingdom,  as 
he  might  think  fit,  and  the  sheriffs  were  specially 
instructed  to  take  care  that  their  husbands  had 
died  before  the  alliance  of  the  Scots  with  France, 
and  that  their  widows  had  not  since  been  married 
to  any  of  the  King's  enemies.  When  old  Petro- 
nilla  and  her  daughter-in-law  Anina  made  their 
petition  for  restitution  of  their  lands,  they  no  doubt 
took  good  care  to  conceal  the  fact  of  the  heir  of 
Langton  being  alive.  The  family  was  represented 
by  his  brother  and  his  uncle  Henry,  who  had  come 
to  the  Conqueror's  peace  for  the  time,  and  made 
submission  at  Berwick.  Henry  appears  to  have 
been  in  favour  with  Edward,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  been  knighted  by  him,  and  made  Governor 
Ragman  Roil,  of  Dumbarton.  His  name  is  appended  to  the 

Bain's,  vol.  n.,    ,  ,        .  .      «  • 

P.  202.  lamous  deed,  and  his  seal  is  thereto  attached. 

He  was  styled  Henricus  de  Vypunt  miles  del 

OU..P.  213.  Counte  de  Dunbretan.  The  gallant  Alan,  called 
"  Aline  de  Veepount  del  Counte  de  Edneburk,"  of 
whom  the  King  and  his  son  were  to  know  more,  also 


33 


made  his  submission,  and  Robert  de  Weepunt,  styled  Ragman  Roil, 
likewise  del  Counte  de  Edene- 
burk,  who  affixed  a  seal  with  a 
fleurs-de-lys,  some  old  family 
secretum  probably.  These  gen- 
tlemen styled  of  Edinburghshire 
were  no  doubt  in  occupation  of 
some  of  the  family  lands  there 

as   tenants   of  their  chief,    the    Lord   of  Langton, 

Bolton,  and  Carriden. 

VI.  SIR  WILLIAM  DE  VETERI-PONTE,  who  was  in 
France  in  1  296,  and  never  made  submission  to 
Edward,  unfortunately  had  the  mischance  to  be 
taken  prisoner  there,  having  gone  over  again  on  a 
mission  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk.  On 
the  3d  January  1301  the  English  monarch  gave 
orders  "  to  all  masters  of  ships  trading  to  Bordeaux  md.,  vol.  ii., 
or  other  places  in  Gascony  to  be  ready  to  receive 
from  the  Constable  of  the  Castle  of  Blaye  William 
de  Veteripont,  a  Scottish  Knight,  and  another 
prisoner,  and  to  take  them  to  Porchester  Castle." 
From  Porchester  he  and  his  squire,  William  de 
Newton,  were  taken  to  Winchester,  thence  to  York. 
When  at  Winchester  the  Sheriff  of  Southampton 
was  ordered  to  pay  them  their  arrears,  as  also  to 
Sir  Richard  de  Dundernor,  Elias  de  Rameseye, 
John  de  Putfurich,  and  Walter  de  Laundeles, 
Esquires,  Scotch  prisoners,  and  their  warder. 
Edward  was  then  at  Linlithgow,  near  which  place 
Sir  William's  barony  of  Carriden  was  situated,  the 
revenues  of  which  perhaps  he  appropriated.  Seven  Ba;n>s 
years  afterwards,  "  having  come  to  his  peace,"  he  is 
found  with  Sir  David  de  Brechin,  Sir  John  Moubray, 


34 

Sir  Ingram  de  Umfraville,  Sir  John  de  Graham,  and 
Sir  William  de  Abernethy,  ordered  by  Aymer  de 
Valence,  second  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Warden  of 
Scotland,  who  was  searching  for  Bruce,  to  remain 
at  Ayr  to  guard  the  town.  Many  of  the  great 
Scottish  nobles  had  at  this  time  a  very  difficult 
part  to  play,  holding,  as  did  the  Bruces,  Baliols, 
Umfravilles,  Veteri  Pontes,  &c.,  large  estates  in 
England,  and  so  were  lieges  of  its  sovereign  as  well 
as  the  King  of  Scotland,  the  country  of  their  birth 
or  adoption.  Sir  William  de  Veteri  Ponte  is  ere 
long  with  most  of  his  companions  found  ranged 
with  Robert  THE  BRUCE,  who  had  himself  sworn 
fealty  to  Edward  on  the  sword  of  Becket,  and  the 
Knight  of  Langton  had  the  hard  fate  to  be  one  of 
the  two  Scottish  magnates  who  fell  in  the  hour 
of  victory  on  the  field  of  Bannockburn. 

Archdeacon  And  upon  the  Scottis  mennys  party 

Harbour's  Tner  wes  slayne  worth!  knichtis  twa, 

Bruce,  buke  „.  ,      ,,, 

nynte,  line  Welyame  the  Wepoynt  wes  ane  of  tha, 

65 1,  and  infra.  And  schyr  Waltre  of  Ross  ane  othyr. 

This  Sir   Walter    Ross   was   he   whom  Edward 
Bruce,  the  King's  brother, 

Luffyt,  and  had  in  sic  daynte 
That  as  him  selff  luffyt  he, 
And  qwhen  he  wyst  that  he  was  ded 
He  was  sa  wa,  and  evill  of  reide 
That  he  said,  makand  ewill  cher 
That  him  war  lewer  that  journay  wer 
Wndone  than  he  sua  ded  ha  bene. 

Reg.  Great  Sir    William    had    renewed    charter    from     King 

p't^Na''      Robert  of  his  baronies  of   Langton,  Carriden,  and 
'37-  Bolton.     He  left  an  only  child,  Mariota,  his  heiress, 

married  to  Sir  Alexander  de  Cokburn. 


35 

Alan  de  Veteri-Ponte,  who  appears  to  have  got 
Carriden  in  fee  from  his  nephew  Sir  William  [to 
which  his  son  John  succeeded],  was  one  of  the 
brave  defenders  of  Stirling  Castle  in  1304  with  Sir 
William  Oliphant.  The  English  monarch,  although 
so  far  advanced  in  years,  had  during  this  famous 
siege  constantly  exposed  himself  with  all  the  fire 
and  temerity  of  a  young  warrior  ;  but  he  sullied  the 
reputation  he  gained  as  a  young  man,  as  a  chivalrous 
knight,  as  well  as  most  daring  soldier,  on  this 
occasion,  [unhappily  for  his  posthumous  fame,  to  be 
soon  further  blackened  by  his  savage  treatment  of 
Wallace],  by  his  cruel  severity  to  the  heroic  garrison  Dalrymple 
when  compelled  to  surrender  —  "a  tedious  pageant 
of  submission  having  been  exhibited,  with  all  the  "••  p-  177~ 
circumstances  of  refined  ignominy,  Edward  pro- 
nounced the  sentence,  "  Let  them  not  be  chained." 
This  was  the  only  hope  of  pardon  indulged  to  men 
whose  valour  would  have  been  revered  by  a  more 
generous  conqueror,"  and  so  Alan  de  Veteri-Ponte 
went  with  his  companions  to  languish  in  an  English 
prison.  The  Constable  of  the  Tower  of  London 
was  commanded  to  guard  those  committed  to  his 
custody  carefully,  and  to  answer  body  for  body  ; 
and  similar  orders  were  sent  to  the  constables  of  the 
many  prisons  throughout  the  country  to  which  they 
were  separately  consigned.  Alan  de  Vieux  Pont  is 
mentioned  as  having  been  transferred  to  that  of 
Gloucester.  I  n  after  years  his  name  was  made  famous 
by  his  defence  of  Loch  Leven  Castle.  "  When  Hector 


Sir  John  cle  Stryvelyn  and  the  Inglismen  devysit  by  vo1'  "->P-4l6- 
ane  subtill  slicht  to  take  the  castell,  and  biggit  ane 
high  dike  with  fale  divets  and  trees,  that  the  water 
of  Leven  suld  have  na  passage,  but  enclosit  per  force 
quhill  it  war  even  above  the  castell  and  all  the  peple 

i 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  27, 
No.  7. 


British 
Museum 
Harley  MS., 
1 160,  fol.  75. 


Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
edit.  1722,  p. 
212. 


in  it  perest.  Bot  he  maid  ane  hole  throw  the  dike 
in  the  nicht,  and  incontinent  the  stream  followit  sa 
fast  quhen  the  water  had  passage,  that  it  brake  down 
the  bastailyais,  and  nocht  only  drownit  the  peple 
under  the  dam,  but  brocht  thaim,  with  hors  and 
carriage  and  al  thair  provisioune,  to  the  see.  Alan 
Vepount,  quhen  the  water  was  fallen  to  the  auld 
mesoure,  ischit  out  of  the  castell  and  slew  ane  part 
of  thaim  that  werr  eschapit  at  this  time,  and  the 
remnant  put  to  flecht." 

Alan,  who  received  from  Robert  Bruce  grant  of 
the  lands  of  Haknakel-Teldun,  in  the  county  of 
Kinross,  had  a  son  John,  who  succeeded  to  Carridin. 
His  heiress,  some  say,  was  Sir  Alexander  Cokburn's 
wife ;  but  this  is  a  mistake,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
charter  of  that  barony  from  David  II.,  to  be  referred 
to  presently. 

Richardus  Puntius  Normannus  bore  upon  a  "shield  gules  ten 
rings  or  annulets  or."  He  appears  by  the  chart  pedigree  (see 
Appendix)  to  have  been  the  ancestor  of  the  de  Veteri-Pontes, 
Vipontes,  or  Bipontes,  magnates  in  Normandy,  who  carried 
gules  six  annulets,  three,  two,  and  one,  or.  The  same  arms  were 
borne  by  the  Lords  of  Appleby  and  Brougham.  William  de 
Veteri  Ponte,  first  Baron  of  Langton,  affixed  to  the  charter  of 
the  lands  of  Horndean,  A.D.  1156-8,  his  seal  with  a  lion  ram- 
pant. His  grandson  and  great-grandson  placed  on  the  honor 
point,  between  three  lions  rampant,  a  star  of  eight  points.  His 
son  William,  "  Primogenitus,"  also  used  a  secretum,  with  the 
device  of  a  star.  It  does  not  appear  when  or  why  the  six 
mascles,  three,  two,  one,  became  the  bearing  of  the  Scottish 
family.  The  beautiful  seal  of  Sir  Henry  de  Veteri  Ponte  of 
Dumbarton  is  the  first  evidence  of  this  coat  having  been 
adopted.  Mr.  Nisbet  says  that  the  Kers  of  Roxburghe  and 
Lothian  carry  mascles  on  account  of  their  descent  from  the 
Weaponts  [or  Veteri-Pontes],  but  no  such  descent  is  found  by 
Mr.  Stodart,  who  says  they  were  apparently  added  by  them  on 
account  of  their  marriage  with  Elizabeth  de  St.  Michael,  an 
heiress  of  that  old  Cumberland  family,  and  remarks  it  is 


37 

probable  that  the  Fernyhirst  family  added  a  stag's  head  in   Stodart's 

base  to  the  chevron  charged   with  "  three  mascles "  about  ScM"h 

c    ,  •  e  „•  T,          Arms,  vol. 

1530,  m  consequence  of  the  marriage  of  Sir  Andrew  Kerr  ;;.,  p.  154. 

with  Margaret  Colville,  co-heiress  of  her  family.  The  Col- 
villes  or  Kolvilles  held  Oxnam  and  Heiton,  County  Rox- 
burgh, got  from  the  Percies  in  the  twelfth  century.  Although 
there  was  no  issue  of  this  marriage,  the  Kers  retained  Oxnam 
and  the  other  lands  of  the  Colvilles.  It  may  be  observed 
that  the  lions  which  appear  upon  the  seals  of  the  Veteri- 
Pontes  in  the  reign  of  King  William  the  Lion,  and  those 
figured  upon  the  seal  of  Patric  the  Earl,  son  of  Waldeve  the 
Earl,  who  married  Ada,  that  monarch's  natural  daughter,  are 
so  similar  in  character  that  they  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
work  of  the  same  artist  who  thus  delineated  that  lion  ram- 
pant, "  of  which  this  is  the  first  appearance,  which  afterwards 
shook  his  brinded  mane  upon  the  shields  of  at  least  an  hun-  Raine's  Dur- 
dred  Scottish  families  descended  from  the  noble  house  of  ;!?'"'  APPen; 

dix,  pp.  31-36. 
Dunbar."     The  three  lions  rampant  appear  on  the  seals  of  the 

de  Veteri-Pontes,  as  well  as  of  the  Dunbars,  at  the  same 
time  soon  afterwards. 


By  his  fortunate  match  with  the   heiress  of  this  Robertson's 
illustrious  Norman  family,  Sir  Alexander  de  Cokburn  j^*j£"  J?L 
got  the  barony  of  Langton  in  the  Merse,  which,  as 
pointed  out,  brought  him  back  to  the  district,  also 
the   Barony  of  Boltoun,   County   Haddington,    and 
shortly  afterwards  King  David  granted  to  him  that 
of  Carridin,  in  Linlithgowshire,  forfeited  by  Mariota's 
kinsman,  John  de  Veteri-Ponte,  for  alienation  thereof 
without  the  royal  consent,  and  consequently  in  the 
Sovereign's  hands.     This  was  a  proceeding  which 
led  to  the  loss  of  many  estates  held  from  the  Crown 
in  those  days.     Robert  Bruce,  as  has  been  mentioned,  Reg.  Great 
gave    in    the   fourth    year   of  his    reign    charter  to  fa^tv^los]"93t 
William  cle  Veteri-Ponte,   Mariota's  father,  confirm-  47;  NO.  137. 
ing  William  the   Lion's,  of  the    three    baronies  of 
Langton,  Carridin,  and  Boltoun,  and  King    David 
renewed  the  same  to  Alexander  de  Cokburn  in  the 


thirty-sixth  year  of  his  reign.      He  was   frequently 
employed  in  important  State  transactions.      Record 
appears  of  payments  made,  "  Alexandra  de  Cokburn 
Exchequer       militi,"  of  a  sum  of  money  for  his  expenses  in  going 

Rolls,  vol.  ii.,  .    ,         .   ,     .  /  .       &,        & 

pp.  347,  603.  to  Berwick  with  letters  ot  truce,  and  again  for  those 
incurred  by  him  in  various  towns  as  he  passed  to 
that  place  with  money  to  be  paid  to  the  English 
Treasurer.  In  13/9  he  received  vii.  Ibs.  iiij.  s. 
"  pro  multonibus  et  tribus  quateribus  brasei  emptis 
et  deliberatis  ad  expenses  Domini  Conte  de  Fyfe 
apud  Coldyngham." 

By  Mariota  de  Vetere-Ponte  he  had  three  sons— 

I.  ALEXANDER,  his  heir  in  Langton  and  Carriden,  &c. 

II.  JOHN,  who  had  the  lands  of  Bolton  from  his  father, 
with  others,  in  the  county  of  Haddington,  and  became  Lord 
of  Ormiston,   in  that  county,  by  his  marriage  with  Joneta, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  Alexander  Lindsay.     From  them 
the   important  house   of  Ormiston,  of  whom  hereafter,  de- 
scended. 

III.  PIERS,  who  was  the  author  of  that  of  Henderland, 
SEAL  of  JOHN  [PAPEDY]    County  Peebles,  of  which  family  also  in  its  place. 

DE  MANDRISTON. 

Raine's North  They  had  also  a  daughter,  Helena,  married  to 
Durham,  John  de  Mandredistown  [Manderston],  County 
CoMingha'me,  Berwick,  who  was  her  kinsman,  being  of  the  family 
of  Papedy,  as  shown  by  his  seal  of  arms,  which  bore 
"  a  chevron  between  three  popinjays,"  appended  to 
a  charter  in  1410.  Thomas  Papedi,  who  died  28th 
April  1336,  is  mentioned  as  holding  a  carrucate  of 
land  in  Mandrestow,  which  property,  with  many 
adjacent  lands,  and  great  part  of  Lauderdale,  be- 
longed to  William  le  Zouche,  who  was  forfeited. 
Thomas  Papedy  had  confirmation  charter  of  Mandir- 
stoun  from  David  II.  The  above-named  John  was 
no  doubt  his  son.  Prior  Drax  of  Coldingham  termed 
him  "his  der  friend."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Helen 
Cockburn's  husband  did  not  reciprocate  the  proffered 


p,  104,  No. 

597- 

Robertson's 

Index,  p.  34. 

Raine, 

Appendix, 

No.  595. 


39 

feelings  of  friendship  of  this  disreputable  churchman, 
who  was  suspected  of  having  set  fire  to  Coldingham 
Abbey  with  his  own  hands,  and  was  accused  of 
many  crimes ;  amongst  them,  of  having  been  con- 
cerned in  robbing  the  Scottish  Ambassador  who 
carried  2000  merks  to  the  King  of  England. 

Sir  Alexander  married,  secondly,  in  1 363,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Sir  John    de   Monfode    de    Braidwud, 
County  Lanark,  the  widow  of  John  de  Cragi.     She 
and  her  sister,  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Douglas,  Captain 
of    Loch     Leven     Castle,    were     great     heiresses. 
Margaret  inherited,  with  other   lands,    Scraling   or 
Skirling  in  Peeblesshire,  and  Heudis  or  Hebbedes 
in    Lanarkshire.       She   settled    Scraling   upon    her 
daughter  by  her  first  marriage,  Margaret  de  Cragi, 
and  her  husband  John  Stuart,  reserving  to  herself 
an  annuity  therefrom.     She   had  also   "  an   annual 
furth  of  the  lands  of  Hochkello  "  [called  also  Hop- 
Kelloch,  Kailzow,  Kelzow,   &c.]  belonging    to  her 
cousin,  James  Tuedy  of  Drummelziare.     During  her  ^/  voM 
widowhood  she  also  gave  a  donation  to  the  Chapel  of  P-  26>  No-  34- 
Dunmanayne,    confirmed    by    charter    from     King 
David,  9th  March  1364.     The  lands  of  Heudis  she  ^-  P-  l8> 
bestowed  upon  her  son,    Walter   de    Cragi.     Soon 
after  their  marriage  the   King  granted   an    annual 
payment    "  viginti  libras  Sterlingorum  "  out  of  the  MM.,  p.  3'. 
customs  of  the  burgh  of  Haddington  to  Alexander 
de  Cokburn,  and  Margaret  de  Monfode.  his  spouse. 
Memorandum  is  found  of  sums  paid  "  in  solucione  Exchequer^ 

.r  .  Rolls,  vol.  11., 

facta  Alexander  de  Cokburn  recipiente  per  annum  p.  121. 
viginti  libras  per  literas  Domini  Regis."      By  Mar- 
garet de  Monfode  he  had  two  sons,   William   and 
Edward,  and  a  daughter  Agnes. 

IV.  WILLIAM,  Sir  Alexander's  fourth  son,  got  Scraling 
from  his  half-sister,  Margaret  de  Cragi,  and  was  progenitor  of 


40 

the  Cockburns  of  Skirling,  who,  as  will  be   shown  in  the 
memoir  of  that  branch,  became  conspicuous  and  powerful. 

V.  EDWARD,  the  fifth  son,  second  by  Margaret  de 
Monfode,  had  the  lands  of  Cockburn,  holding  them  from  the 
Earl  of  March,  the  over-lord,  and  had  some  other  estates, 
both  in  the  counties  of  Peebles  and  Haddington.  He  was  in 
the  Church,  and  was  the  King's  chaplain  at  Stirling  Castle. 
His  lands  in  Peeblesshire  and  Haddington  were  inherited  by 
his  nephew,  the  Laird  of  Skirling. 

Sir  Alexander  de  Cokburn  was  a  very  prosperous 

man.     Things  seem  always  to  have  gone  well  with 

him  in  consequence  of  his  enjoying  the  favour  of  his 

sovereigns,  King  David  II.  and  Robert  II.      Besides 

Carridin  barony,  he  had  grants  from  the  former  of 

jteg.  Great       other  valuable  estates.      Bouryfelde   [Barrowfield], 

p.  55, NO.  168.  adjacent  to  the  town  of  Haddington,    was  one  of 

them.     The  charter  of  it  was  dated  27th  April  1361. 

He  had  also  confirmation  I3th  January  1367  of  the 

charter  from  Malcolm,  son  of  Sir  Roger   Fawside 

of    that    Ilk,    of    Letham,    in    the    constabulary   of 

ibid.,  p.  46,       Haddington.     Dying  in   1387-8,  he  was  succeeded 

by  his  eldest  son,  Alexander. 

Sir  Alexander  placed  a  buckle  similar  to  that 
borne  by  the  Bonkills  between 
the  three  cocks  on  his  seal. 

In  consequence  of  his  match 
with  the  heiress  of  the  de 
Veteri  -  Pontes,  the  arms  of 
that  house  were  carried  quar- 
terly by  her  descendants.  Sir 
Seal  of  sir  Alexander  de  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount, 

Cokburn,  A.D.  1370.  * 

Lyon  King  of  Arms,  blazons 

the    coat    of    Langton   in    his  armorial,    A.D.    1542, 
first  and  fourth  argent,  three  cocks  gules  for  Cock- 


Seal  of  Sir  Alexander  de 
Bonkil,  obiit  A.D.  1300. 


burn,  second  and  third  azure,  six  mascles  or,  three, 
two,  and  one,  for  de  Veteri-Ponte.  In  after  times 
the  tincture  was  changed,  and  gules  substituted 

for  azure    in    the    second   and 
third  quarters.     In  his  splendid 
work  on    Scottish  Arms,   Mr. 
R.    R.    Stodart,  Lyon-Depute, 
mentions      the     circumstances 
under  which  the  Armorial  de 
Berry     in      the     Bibliotheque 
National  of  France  (which  he 
designates  "  the  most  valuable 
heraldic  manuscript  in  existence  ")  was  compiled  by 
Gilles    de    Bouvier,    who    entered    the    service    of 
Charles  VII.  in  the  year  1386,    and    was    by  him 
crowned    King  of   Arms    at    Melun    on    Christmas 
day,   A.D.    1420.      He   travelled   over  great  part  of 
Europe,  having  been   desired  by  his  sovereign  to 
make  an  authentic  collection  of  the  bearings  of  the 
princes,  nobles,  and  gentlemen  of  the  countries  he 
visited,    the    science    and    practice  of   arms    being 
then  deemed  of  the  utmost  importance.     The  result 
was     "  this    magnificent     register."       He    gives    a 
hundred  and  twenty  coats   of  arms  borne  by  the 
dominant  families  of  Scotland  ;    amongst  them   he 
blazons  Ceulz  de  Lanton,  "  trois  coques  de  geules," 
of  which  a  facsimile  is  given  above  the  first  page  of 
this  memoir.     In  his  splendid  volumes  is  presented 
also   an  admirable  copy  of  the  Armorial  de  Gelre 
Herault  d'Armes,  as  made  by  Mr.  Bainbridge.     The 
original  is  in  the  Bibliotheque  of  Brussels,  and  is  of 
the  date  1334.     The  Cockburns  of  Langton  carried 
as  supporters  two  lions,  the  dexter  gardant,  sinister  re- 
gardant ;  their  crest  was  a  cock  proper,  and  the  motto 


Vigilans  et  aiidax ;  but  an  older  one  was  Peradventur. 
Recently  the  first  motto  was  placed  upon  a  scroll 
underneath  the  shield,  and  over  the  crest  the  words 
Acccndit  cantu. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i. , 
p.  178,  No.  4. 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  126. 

Rymer's 
Fadera,  torn.  7, 
p.  88. 

Chartiilary  of 
Cainbusken- 
nelh,  p.  86, 
No.  70. 


VI.  SIR  ALEXANDER  COCKBURN  OF 
LANGTON  AND  THAT  ILK  was  usually  styled 
"  de  Langtoune,"  that  property  becoming  the  one 
from  which  he  and  the  succeeding  representatives  of 
the  main  stem  of  the  family  took  designation.  He 
was  in  great  favour  at  the  courts  of  Robert  the 
Second  and  Robert  the  Third.  From  the  former  he 
received  the  high  office  of  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal 
before  1389,  as  his  name  constantly  appears  in  the 
reign  of  his  son.  One  of  the  Rolls  of  Charters  is  en- 
dorsed, "  Here  endeth  the  Roll  of  Robert  II."  ;  and 
the  following,  "  Hinc  incipit  Registrum  Domini 
Roberti  tertii  Regis  Scotorum,  tempore  Alexandri  de 
Cokburn  custodis  magni  sigilli."  He  was  one  of  the 
ambassadors  sent  to  treat  with  the  English  in  1394. 
On  6th  October  1469  he  witnessed  the  deed  where- 
by David  Bruce,  Lord  of  Clackmannan,  renounced 
the  tithes  of  the  mill  of  Clackmannan  in  favour  of  the 
Abbot  and  monks  of  Cambuskenneth  ;  and  in  1417 


43 

he  attested  a  charter  of  the  Lady  Mary  Stewart, 
Countess  of  Mar  and  Angus.  He  married  Marjorie, 
daughter  of  Patrick  Hepburne,  Dominus  de  Halis  et 
Aldhamstokkis,  now  the  parish  of  Oldhamstocks, 
adjoining  Cockburnspath.  This  Sir  Patrick  was  the 
hero  of  Otterburn,  whose  second  wife  was  Eleanor 
Bruce,  Countess  of  Carrick,  for  which  marriage  a 
dispensation  was  had  from  Pope  Gregory  permitting 
the  noble  man  Patrick  de  Hepborn  Knicht  and 
Eleanor  Bruce  to  marry,  notwithstanding  Agnes  his 
first  wife,  having  been  within  the  fourth  degree  of 
consanguinity  to  the  Countess,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  Archibald  Douglas  Earl  of  Galloway,  and  was 
married  first  to  Alexander  Bruce  Earl  of  Carrick, 
and  to  four  husbands  after — Sandilands  of  Calder, 
the  Laird  of  Dairy,  Wallace  of  Sundrum — so  must 
have  been  rather  old  when  Sir  Patrick  made  her 
again  a  bride.  Alexander  Cockburn  and.  Marjorie 
Hepburne  had  five  sons — William,  Patrick,  Alex- 
ander, and  John ;  the  fifth  was  Henry  Magister 
HospitalisSancte  Laurenciide  Haddington.  William  Exchequer 
and  John  were  taken  prisoners  at  the  battle  of  ^'J01' 
Nisbet,  near  Duns,  in  the  Merse  —  not  Nesbit  in 
County  Roxburgh,  as  has  been  erroneously  stated,  a 
place  belonging  to  the  Ruthirfurds,  and  not  noted  as 
the  scene  of  a  sanguinary  engagement  such  as  this, 
which  was  fought  on  the  22d  June  1402. 

"  George,  Erie  of  March,  come  with  the  Erie  of 
Northumberland  in  Scotland  to  revenge  the  con- 
temptioun  done  to  him  be  the  Erie  of  Douglas,  and 
had  ane  gret  pray  of  men  and  guddis  out  of  the 
samyn.  To  revenge  thir  attemptis  the  Erie  of 
Douglas  come  with  an  army  in  Northumberland, 
and  waistit  the  cuntre  with  gret  displeisieris.  Als 

K 


44 


Hector  Botce, 
Canon  of 
Aberdeetfs 
Chronicles  of 
Scotland, 
translated  by 
J.  Bellenden, 
Archdeacon 
of  Ross,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  476. 


sone  as  he  wer  returnit,  Patrik  Hepburn  went  in 
Ingland,  and  did  litill  les  dammage  to  it  than  the 
Douglas  armie  did  afore,  and  thoucht  he  was  con- 
salit  be  his  freindis  to  depart  hame  because  the 
Inglismen  wer  cumand  on  him  with  more  multitude 
of  people  than  he  micht  resist,  yet  he  refusit,  and 
finalie  foucht  with  sic  manheid  aganis  the  Inglismen, 
that  he  apperit  to  haif  the  victorie  ;  and  incontinent 
George  Dunbar,  eldest  son  to  the  Erie  of  March, 
come  with  ane  hundreth  speris  on  him  and  put  his 
folks  to  flicht.  In  this  battaill  was  slane  Patrick 
Hepburn  of  Halis  with  many  gentill-men  of  his 
house.  Sindry  were  taken,  as  John  and  William 
Cokburn,  Robert  Lauder  of  Bas,  John  and  Thomas 
Haliburton.  This  battall  was  stricken  at  Nisbet,  in 
the  Mers,  the  xxivth  Junij  fra  our  Redemptioune, 
M.CCCC.  and  twa  yeris."  Patrick  Hepburn  was  the 
warrior  whom  Fordun  calls  "  miles  magnanimus  et 
athleta  bellicosus."  Their  son,  Adam  Hepburn, 
married  the  heiress  of  the  Normanvilles  of  Gar- 
gunnock,  who  will  be  noticed  hereafter.  The  Hep- 
burns,  with  whom  the  Cockburns  became  allied  by 
many  intermarriages,  and  with  whom  they  sided 
against  the  Homes,  became  very  powerful  in  after 
times ;  but  their  advancement  was  due  to  the  above- 
mentioned  Sir  Patrick  and  his  gallant  son.  It  was 
after  the  English  were  "  discomfut  at  Otterburn,  the 
Erie  of  Douglas  slane,  and  the  Perse  brocht  presoner 
in  Scotland,  the  Hepburns  took  beginning,  but 
doubt  they  had  won  the  anseynis  of  Douglas  and 
putt  the  armis  to  flecht  was  not  Patrick  Hepburn 
with  his  son  and  freindis  come  the  mair  hastelie  to 
support  the  Scottis,"  says  old  Boece.  Their  origin 
he  traces  thus  :  "  It  is  said,  in  the  tyme  of  King 


45 

David  Bruce,  an  Englishman  was  tane  presoner, 
namit  Hebburn,  and  haddyn  mony  zeris  in  Scotland 
for  non-payment  of  ransoum  ;  at  last,  quhen  ye  Erie 
of  Marche  was  in  danger  of  his  lyfe  be  rage  of  an 
insolent  and  undanted  hors,  this  Hebburn  cam  pertly 
to  his  ayd  quhen  na  uther  man  darst  restrene  this 
horse,  thus  sauit  the  Erie's  lyfe  and  gat  certaine  landis 
in  Louthiane."  The  memory  of  this  insolent  and 
undaunted  charger  was  preserved,  we  may  believe, 
in  the  "horse's  head  bridled,"  the  crest  of  the  Hep- 
burnes,  Earls  of  Bothwell,  whose  ancestor  took  name 
from  his  paternal  lands  of  Hebborn  or  Hayborn  in 
Northumberland.  The  Master  of  Dunbar,  fighting 
against  his  countrymen  on  the  side  of  the  enemy, 
had  forgotten  the  rage  of  the  horse  subdued  by  the 
ancestor  of  the  gallant  Patrick,  whom  he  set  upon  so 
fiercely. 

Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  received,  besides  other 
favours  and  the  payment  annually  of  the  "  viginti 
libras  sterlingorum  "  granted  to  his  father  out  of  the 
customs  of  Haddington,  part  also  of  the  pension  of 
the  unhappy  Duke  of  Albany.  He  was  able  to 

,  .   r±V          .  .  ,  '        f  r      i    i  •  ,  ., 

assist  his  sovereign  with  money ;  for  we  find  him  pp.  542, 567- 

receiving  payment  of  eighty  gold  nobles  which  he 

had  lent   for   his    accommodation.       His    daughter 

Christian  married  Sir  John  Preston  of  Craigmillar. 

Their  son  William  had  new  charters  of  his  mother's  Keg.  Great 

patrimony  in  Lauderdaie  and  of  the  other   estates  ^os!  705  and 

united  into  one  barony  from  James    III.   in   1472.   Io86- 

He  was  a  minor  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death, 

and  his  uncle,  Alexander  Cockburn,  Sir  Alexander's 

second    son,   was  his  guardian,  as    appears  by  the 

note    of    the   payments    to  him  of   certain  sums  in  Exchequer 

the  year  1455  for  the  ward  of  William   Preston  of 


46 

Craigmillar.  The  grand  old  ivied  castle,  so  com- 
mandingly  situated,  testifies  to  this  day  the  conse- 
quence of  this  old  family.  It  was  purchased  from 
John  de  Capella  in  1374  by  Sir  Simon  Preston,  and 
possesses  additional  interest  from  its  association  with 
the  name  of  Mary  Stuart,  who  made  it  her  residence 
on  her  return  from  France, — the  little  village  below 
where  her  retinue  lodged  bearing  the  name  of  Little 
France.  It  was  in  Craigmillar  Castle  that  the 
unhappy  Queen  of  Scots  lay  sick  in  1566  ever 
repeating  the  words  "  Je  pourrais  presque  esperer  de 
mourir." 

In  the  reign  of  David  the  Second  the  Prestons 
were  designated  of  Gourtoune,  which  lands  were 
afterwards  called  Preston,  and  they  were  then  styled, 

Nisbet's          Mr.  Nisbet  says,  of  that  ilk,  and  sometimes  of  Craisf- 
BtralAy,«a&.       ...  ...  •      •      i  uj-u 

1722,  P.  312.     millar,  which  was  the  principal  seat  near  hdmburgh. 

On  the  inner  gate  of  the  castle  in  his  time — 1700- 
1 730 — he  goes  on  to  observe,  "  their  arms  are  to  be 
seen  cut  on  an  old  stone  within  a  shield  conchee, 
three  unicorns'  heads  couped  [in  paintings  argent 
three  unicorns'  heads  couped  sable],  supported  by 
two  lions ;  crest,  an  unicorn's  head  issuing  out  of  a 
coronet,  instead  of  a  wreath ;  motto,  Prczsto  ut 
Prcestem.  Below,  on  the  stone,  is  the  year  of  God 
1427."  The  date  is  not  legible  now  in  this  year  of 
grace  1887  ;  but  Sir  John's  arms  are  still  to  be  seen 
over  this  gateway,  placed  there  by  him  perhaps  when 
he  was  adorning  his  castle  for  the  reception  of  his 
bride,  Christian  Cockburn,  adding  the  picturesque 
embattlements  to  the  lofty  walls.  But  as  Craigmillar 
suffered  grievously  at  the  hands  of  the  ruthless  Hert- 
ford in  1544,  these  may  be  of  later  date.  His  de- 
scendant, Sir  Richard  Preston,  was  raised  by  James 


47 

VI.  to  the  peerage  by  the  title  of  Lord  Dingwall. 
Christian  was  not  the  only  daughter  of  the  house  of 
Langton,  as  will  be  seen,  who  entered  Craigmillar 
Castle  as  the  bride  of  its  owner. 

Patrick,  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton's 
third  son,  was  a  man  of  note  ;  he  had  the  Tempill- 
lands  and  Myrside  in  the  Merse — old  possessions  of 
the  Knights  Templars,  inherited  through  his  mother 
from  the  Hepburns,  and  became  possessed  of  New- 
bigging  and  Clerkington.  Of  him  and  his  descen- 
dants more  in  their  place. 

Sir  Alexander,  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  to  whom 
in    1 390    a   letter  was  addressed  by  the    Prior    of  tee<Tcoiiec[., 
Coldingham,  "  Alexandra  de  Cokburne,  cancellario  vol<  '•' p-  69- 
reverendissime  Domini  et  amico  eximiae  probitatis 
vero,"   died  in    1418-19,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son — 


VII.  SIR  WILLIAM  COCKBURN  OF  LANG- 
TON  AND  THAT  ILK, who  was  also  a  prominent 
personage  of  his  day,  and  enjoyed,  as  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  done,  the  friendship  and  confidence  of 
his  sovereigns,  James  II.  and  III.  He  was  evidently 
a  man  of  uncommon  ability  and  judgment,  as  well  as 
a  gallant  soldier.  When  quite  a  young  man  he  was 
deputed  in  1413  as  ambassador  to  the  English  court, 
along  with  his  kinsman  Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormis- 
ton,  and  his  near  relative  Alexander  Lindsay  Earl 
of  Crawford,  who  married  Mariota  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Sir  David  Dunbar  de  Cockburn.  On  his 
return  safe-conducts  were  granted  to  "  Willelmus  ™e  a 
Douglas,  miles,  Willelmus  de  Cockbourne,  chivaler, 
and  John  Sinclere,  armiger."  He  had  from  James 


fitg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  256. 


Hector  Boece, 
Chronicles, 
Bellenden.vol. 
ii.,  p.  476. 


Redpath's 
Border  His- 
tory,  p.  37'- 


Fordun's 

Annals, 

clxxi.-ii. 


III.,  5th  January  1441,  confirmation  of  the  grant  he 
had  obtained  twenty  years  before  from  Alexander, 
Earl  of  Douglas, — "  Willelmo  de  Cokburne  filio 
quondam  Alexandri  de  Cokburne  militis  pro  fideli 
servitio  sibi  impenso  et  impendendo  terras  de  duabus 
villis  in  Curmanws  in  baronia  de  Curmannaws  [Curm- 
manoc]  vie  Lanak  ac  terras  de  Aldiriston,  Ricat, 
Yongiston  et  de  Kirclee  in  baronia  de  Bothville  vie 
predict.  Tenend.  dicto  Willelmo  heredibus  ejus  de 
corpora  suo  legitime  procreatis,  quibus  deficientibus 
Patricio  fratri  ejus  et  heredibus  ejus  quibuscunque, 
apud  Bothevile  10  Dec1'  1423."  He  was  then 
"  Scutiferus  "  to  the  gallant  Earl  Archibald,  who  fell 
at  the  battle  of  Verneuil  in  the  following  year. 
Whether  Sir  William  Cockburn  was  with  the  unfor- 
tunate Scottish  army  on  this  fatal  field,  when  so  few 
of  his  brave  countrymen  deserted  by  their  allies 
escaped  death,  is  uncertain,  although  it  could  only 
have  been  from  some  accident  that  he  was  not  there, 
being  then  in  France  with  his  patron,  the  brave  but 
unfortunate  "  Tineman,"  created  Duke  of  Touraine 
by  Charles  VI  I.  Sir  William,  who  probably  received 
the  accolade  of  knighthood  from  the  hands  of  the 
great  Earl,  married  Margaret,  sister  of  John  and 
Thomas  Haliburton,  who  were 
taken  prisoners  with  himself 
and  his  brother  John  at  the 
battle  of  West  Nisbet  in  1402. 
Balfour  says  the  two  brothers 
Haliburton  were  knights,  and 
were  both  slain  ;  but  this  seems 
to  be  an  error.  J ohn  was  knighted 
subsequently,  and  fell  at  Cravant 
in  1422.  Their  grandfather  or  granduncle  was  the 


49 

"  brave  and  warlike  knight,  Sir  John  Haliburton, 
who  had  always  given  the  English  much  trouble." 
He  was  killed  with  Sir  James  Turnbull  at  the  battle 
of  Nisbet-moor,  in  the  Merse,  in  1355,  when  the 
Scots  won  a  notable  victory  over  Sir  Thomas  Grey  tmy,  page  341. 
and  Sir  James  Dacres.  Sir  John  Haliburton,  Sir 
William  Cockburn's  near  neighbour  and  brother-in- 
law,  seems  to  have  been  at  one  time  in  favour  at  the 
English  court  during  the  few  halcyon  years  of  that 
era,  and  had  frequently  safe-conducts  to  pass  to  and 
fro.  It  is  very  probable  that  he  was  as  a  young 
man  one  of  the  companions  of  another  celebrated 
neighbour  of  theirs,  Sir  John  Swinton,  the  Sir 
John  Assueton  spoken  of  by  Froissart  as  serving  swintms  of 
under  Edward  the  Black  Prince  with  other  Scottish  i03  * 
knights,  and  winning  the  admiration  of  the  enemy 
by  entering  alone  and  on  foot  within  the  barriers  of 
the  city  of  Noyon.  He  had  again  in  1374  protec- 
tion for  a  year  to  go  in  the  King's  service  beyond 
the  seas  with  his  son  the  Earl  of  Cambridge.  Sir 
John  de  Halyburton,  Chevaler  de  Scotise,  had  a  safe-  Rotuii  Scotia, 

1  If  T.-11TT  -1  V0'-    "•>    PP- 

conduct  also  from  Richard  II.  to  pass  with  twenty  101-137. 
horsemen  from  26th  November  1389,  usque  ad 
festum  Sancti  Johnnis  Baptiste,  si  guerra  inter  regem 
et  adversarum  suum  Scotise  medio  tempore  non 
existat.  Sir  William  de  Halyburton  had  a  similar 
safe-conduct  in  the  previous  year.  He  was  the 
brother  apparently  of  the  above-named  Sir  John 
and  Thomas.  Sir  John  married  the  heiress  of  Sir 
William  de  Vallibus,  Lord  of  Dirleton,  from  which 
place  his  descendants  took  designation. 

Sir  William  Cockburn  placed  a  cross  crosslet  fitchee 
between  the  three  cocks  on  his  seal  of  arms. for  Som- 
erville,  probably  in  place  of  the  Bonkyll  buckle,  which 
is,  however,  conspicuous  on  the  mantling. 


Carr's/Krtorv          VIII.     WILLIAM     COCKBURN      OF      LANG- 

°L™wS\2i-  TON  AND  THAT    ILK    married  Helen,  who  in- 
123-  herited  the  lands  of  East  Reston.      Mr.  Carr,  in  his 

"  History  of  Coldingham,"  calls  her  daughter  of  Regi- 
nald de  Reston.      Reginald  was  an  old  name  in  the 
Priory  of  Col-  family,  but  it  does  not  appear  after  1230.     About 
u2fc3*tr'  that  time    Patrick,  son  of  Alexander  Ristona,   held 
East  Reston,  as  his  grandfather  Adam  did,  from  the 
Priory  of  Durham. 

There  was  a  very  extensive  forest  in  ancient  times 
in  this  part  of  the  Merse,  from  which  the  monks  of 
Coldingham  got  many  a  fat  buck.     Amongst  other 
grants  to  the  Monastery  confirmed  by  William  the 
Raine's  Dur-    Lion  was  that  of  his  brother,  King  Malcolm,  bestow- 
dbTcoSS*.    mS  uPon  tliem  " totum  nemus  de  Restun."     Some  of 
ham.  tne  Reston  lands  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  family 

of  Aldincraw,  so  named  from  their  property  adjacent. 
Adam  de  Aldingrawe  was  witness  to  a  charter  of 
ibid.,  NOS.  Arnold,  Prior  of  Coldingham  in  King  William's 
reign.  William  Aldencrawe  de  Eist  Reston  appears 
as  a  witness  to  an  inquest  held  before  Sir  Alexander 
Home  of  RestOn  in  1455.  Reston  Magna  and 
Reston  Parva  [East  and  West  Reston]  were  held  by 
different  branches  of  the  same  family  respectively 
designated  from  their  lands.  Being  within  a  short 
distance  of  Coldingham,  there  were  many  dealings 
between  them  and  the  priors  and  their  monks,  espe- 
cially in  the  matter  of  slaves,  as  likewise  had  many 
of  their  neighbours  and  relatives,  such  as  the  Pren- 
derguests. 

Reginald  de  Restun-Parva,  Elyas  de  Prendergest, 
and  William  his  son,  with  many  other  representatives 
of  the  principal  families  near,  witnessed  the  deed 


H.MJW 


DEED  of  SALE  by  ADAM  of  Little  Reston  to  the  PRIOR  of 
COLDINGHAM,  of  ADAM,  Son  of  Thurkill,  Serf. 

TRANSLATION. 

To  all  the  faithful  of  Christ  to  whom  this  present  writing  shall 
come,  Adam  of  Little  Riston  wisheth  health  :  Wit  ye  all,  that  I 
have  made  Adam,  son  of  Thurkill,  free,  with  all  his  goods,  and 
have  delivered,  and  for  ever  quit-claimed  him,  from  me  and  my 
heirs,  to  my  Lord  Prior  of  Coldingham,  for  three  marks  of  silver, 
which  the  Prior  and  Monks  of  Coldingham  have  given  to  me  of 
the  proper  money  of  the  House  of  Coldingham. — And  in  witness 
of  this  thing  I  have  set  my  seal  to  the  present  writ ;  these  being 
witnesses,  Sir  William  of  Morthinton,  Sir  Alan  of  Swynton,  Adam 
of  Prendergest,  Galfrid  Ridel,  Walter  and  Andrew  of  Paxton, 
William  of  Lummisden,  Maurice  of  Ayton,  William  the  Clerk, 
Robert  son  of  Gregory,  William  Scot,  John  of  Lummisden, 
Ralf  the  Provost,  Adam  son  of  Ylif,  and  many  others. 


DEED  of  SALE  by  BERTRAM,  Son  of  ADAM  of  Little  Reston, 
to  the  PRIOR  and  CONVENT  of  COLDINGHAM,  of  TURKILL 
HOG  and  his  Children,  Serfs. 

TRANSLATION. 

To  all  who  shall  see  or  hear  these  letters,  Bertram,  son  of 
Adam  of  Little  Riston,  greeting  :  Be  it  known  to  you  all,  that  I 
have  granted,  sold,  and  wholly  quit-claimed  from  me  and  my  heirs 
for  ever,  Turkill  Hog,  and  his  sons  and  daughters,  to  the  Prior  and 
Convent  of  Coldingham,  for  three  marks  of  silver,  which  they  gave 
to  me  in  my  great  need,  of  the  money  of  the  house  of  Coldingham : 
Wherefore  I  will  and  grant  that  the  aforesaid  Turkill  and  his  sons 
and  daughters  are  free  and  for  ever  quit  of  me  and  my  heirs  from 
all  reclamation  and  demand. — And  in  witness  of  this  thing  I  have 
set  my  seal  to  this  writing ;  these  being  the  witnesses,  Sir  William 
of  Mordington,  Walter  and  Andrew  of  Paxton,  Adam  of  Riston, 
John,  son  of  Helye,  and  Maurice  of  Ayton,  Adam  of  Prender- 
gest,  and  many  others. 


-d 

S3 

rt 


<u 


S 

o 
U 


Q 
W 
U 

Q 


328- 
334. 


whereby  Henry  de  Prendergest  certifies  to  have  sold, 
free  of  all  claim  from  him  or  his  for  ever,  Joseph, 
son  of  Elwold,  "  et  omnes  ei  exitum  Priori  et  Con- 
ventui  de  Coldingham  pro  precio  trium  marcarum 
quas  in  magna  necessitate  mea  de  denariis  domus  de 
Coldingham  dedit,  quare  volo  et  concedo  ut  predictos  Raine's 
Joseph  et  omnes  qui  ex  eisdem  de  cetero  exient  afxT'ctidi 
liberi  sint,  et  quieti  de  me,  et  heredibus  meis  ab  omne  ham>  No- 
reclamatione  et  demanda."  He  also  disposed  of  ibid.,  No. 
Roger,  son  of  Walter,  and  all  who  might  be  born  of 
him,  for  two  merks,  which  amount  he  received  in 
goods  from  the  Monastery  in  his  great  necessity. 
Helias  of  Prendergest,  William  of  Lumisden,  Adam 
and  Reginald  of  Reston-Parva,  &c.,  witnessed  this 
settlement  of  accounts. 

In  like  manner  Sir  William  de  Lindesey,  Sir  Wil- 
liam de  Mordington,  Sir  Alan  de  Swinton,  Thomas 
de  Nesbit,  Adam  de  Prendergest,  David  de  Lumis- 
dene,  Gilbert  de  Lumisden,  Bertram  de  Restun,  and 
others  witnessed  the  extensive  transfer  by  Adam,  son  7^,1*0.339. 
of  John  of  Ayton,  of  all  his  rights  to  Henrico  filio 
Dolfini,  et  Waltero  fratri  suo,  et  in  tota  eorum 
sequela,  et  Roberto  filio  Osulphi  et  filiis  suis,  to 
Anketin,  Prior  in  1230. 

Adam  of  Restun-Parva  sold  Adam,  son  of  Turkill,  ibid.,  NO. 
with  his  progeny,  for  three  merks  of  silver  before  Md.,  NO. 
the  same  witnesses  mentioned.     Galfridus  de  Rydale 
was  also  present  at  this  sale.     Galfridus  died  about 
1300.       Bertram,    son    of  Adam    de    Ristona,    sold 
Turkill    Hog   and    his    sons    and    daughters    very 
cheap,   getting   only   three    merks    for   the    family. 
Robert  de  Prendergest  got  a  high  price  for  Osulfus  itu.,  NO.  336. 
Ruffus,    and   Walter,  his   son,  and   all    who    might 

L 


336. 

337. 


52 

descend  from  these  doubtless  superior  specimens  of 
the  serf  —  no  less  than  ten  marks,  the  value  of  which 
he  had  got  from  the  Monastery  in  his  great  need. 
Possibly  it  was  a  good  day  for  Osulf  the  Red  and 
his  son  Walter  when  they  removed  from  their 
throats  the  gorgets  denoting  that  they  were  the  born 
thralls  of  Robert  de  Prendergest,  and  entered  the 
easier  service  of  the  Monastery,  going  to  live  amongst 
the  Prior's  theines  and  drengs  at  Horndean,  and 
there  cultivate  small  holdings  for  their  own  advan- 
tage. Their  progeny  would  also  escape  being  called 
upon  to  attend  William  de  Prendergest  when  he 
plundered  the  bakery  and  brewery  of  the  monks  of 
Lindisfarne  in  1326. 

When  in  a  generous  or  a  penitential   mood   the 
Barons  sometimes  gave  their  stock  of  this  kind  as 
gifts  to  their  spiritual  counsellors.      Patrick,  son  of 
Ap-      Waldeve  de  Pcndergest,  bestowed  upon  St.  Cuth- 

332.  1X'  bert's  and  St.  Ebba's  monks  Reginald,  son  of  Erne- 

way,  "  puram  elemosinam  ;"  and  there  were  several 
donations  of  the  kind  by  the  Reginalds,  Rogers,  and 
Bertrams  de  Restun.  Bertram  son  of  Adam,  son  of 

ibid.,  NOS.       Cospatric    of   East  Restun  [or   Restun-  Parva],    be- 

and'404/  '  stowed  upon  them,  for  the  good  of  his  own  soul  and 
his  wife  Margaret's,  some  land  in  Prior  Anketin's 
time.  Amongst  the  witnesses  to  the  deed  were 
Alan,  Lord  of  Swinton,  and  Alan  his  son.  This 
Bertram  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John,  who,  with 

ibid.,  NO.  329.  Sir  Peter  of  Morthyngton  and  Sir  Henry  Pren- 
dergest, Knights,  witnessed  the  grant  of  Alan  "de 
Superiori  Swyntoun  "  to  the  Priory  for  the  welfare  of 
his  own  soul  and  his  wife  Lucia,  on  2Oth  March  1271. 


/to//*,  pp.         The  day  had  gone  by  when  wmiam  Cockburn 


53 

would  have  gained   chattels  of  this  description  by 
marrying  a  daughter  of  this  old  Saxon  family,  whose 
ancestor    Roger  was  of  Restun   in    1168,   when   he  Cart's  History 
witnessed  a   deed    by    Waldeve,    Earl    of   Dunbar,  "Lvt^izi. 
relating  to  lands  that  belonged  to  Swain,  Priest  of 
Fishwick.      But  with  Helen's  hand  he  got  the  lands 
of  East  Reston,  and  the  fortalice  thereof,  afterwards 
known  as  Langton's  Tower.     A  part  of  the  property 
bore  the  name  of  Cockburn-haugh. 

He  was  succeeded  in  Langton  by  his  eldest  son, 
Alexander ;  his  second  son,  Patrick,  had  the  East 
Reston  lands.  Whether  he  was  married  and  was 
progenitor  of  any  of  the  Cockburns  in  East  Reston 
cannot  be  with  certainty  ascertained.  There  were 
always  some  of  the  Langton  family  resident  there, 
it  being  apparently  used  frequently  as  a  dowager's 
provision.  Margaret  Cockburn,  second  wife  of  Sir 
James  of  Langton,  had  the  liferent  of  it  settled 
upon  her,  and  their  son  Alexander  appears  to  have 
been  given  it  in  fee,  as  his  brother-german  Archi-  Register  of 
bald,  who  married  Agnes  Aldincraw  in  1 606,  sue-  office',  VOL"' 
ceeded  to  East  Reston  as  heir  of  tailzie  of  Alexander.  xxix->  fol- 12°- 
The  Aldencraws  or  Craws  held  lands  after  this  for 
some  generations  in  East  and  West  Reston,  as  did 
Humes  and  Nesbits.  William  and  Helen  Cockburn 
had  a  son  Alexander,  who  succeeded,  and  a 
daughter — 

MARGARET,  who  married  first  Gawin  de  Crichton.     On 
nth  February  1480,  confirmation  was  given  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  James   III.  of  the  charter  of  several  lands  in  the 
barony  of  Kirkmichael,  from  William,  third  Lord  Crichton,  to   Register  Great 
his  brother-german,  Gawinus  de  Crichton,  in  conjunct  fee  with  Seal,  vol.  ii., 
his  wife,   Margaret  Cokburn.     She  married,  secondly,  John   No- 
Wardlaw,  with  whom  she  is  mentioned  in  1492  in  proceedings 


54 


Acta  Domi- 
norum  Concilii 
James  III., 
p.  211. 


before  the  Lords  of  the  Council.  Margrete  of  Cokburn, 
spouse  of  umquhile  Gawin  of  Crechton,  and  John  of 
Wardlaw,  now  her  spous,  having  raised  an  action  against 
Thomas  Kirkpatrick  of  Closeburn  for  wrangis  uptaking, 
and  withhalden  fra  thaim  of  the  malez  and  fruitis  of  Rahil, 
Monygap,  &c. 


Archbishop 
Spottis- 
woode's  His- 
tory of  the 
Church,  vol. 
i.,  p.  192. 

Michel's  Les 
Ecossaises  en 
France,  vol.  i. , 
p.  281. 


IX.  ALEXANDER  COCKBURN  OF  LANG- 
TON  AND  THAT  ILK  married  first  Elizabeth  de 
Crechton,  sister  of  William,  Lord  Crichton,  above 
mentioned,  and  Gawin,  his  sister's  husband.  By 
her  he  had  William,  his  heir,  Patrick,  Robert,  and 
Christopher. 

PATRICK,  the  second  son,  called  of  East  Borthwick, 
was  tutor  of  Langton  during  the  minority  of  his  grandnephew, 
Sir  James.  He  married  Isobel,  daughter  of  George  Home 
of  Wedderburn,  the  sister  therefore — not  daughter,  as  Sir 
Robert  Douglas  supposed — of  Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn, 
killed  at  Flodden.  The  latter's  daughter,  Isobel,  married 
Patrick's  nephew,  William  Cockburn  of  Cockburn. 

George  Home  of  Wedderburn's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Sir 
John  Sinclair  of  Herdmanston  and  Polwarth,  adding  thus 
another  link  to  the  chain  of  intimate  connection  between  the 
Cockburns  and  Sinclairs.  Patrick  had  by  his  wife  Isobel  a 
son,  Patrick,  of  whom  the  learned  John  Spottiswoode,  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow  and  Chancellor  of  Scotland,  says,  "  Next 
to  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount  [Lord  Lyon  King  of 
Arms],  must  be  remembered  Mr.  Patrick  Cockburn,  a  gentle- 
man of  the  house  of  Langton,  in  the  Merse.  This  man 
having  attained  by  his  studies  great  learning,  lived  a  long 
time  in  the  University  of  Paris  well  esteemed."  He  was 
Professor  of  Oriental  Languages.  Relinquishing  this  after  a 
time,  he  returned  to  Scotland,  and  embraced  the  doctrines  of 
the  Reformers.  As  he  was  the  most  learned,  so  he  was 
likewise  the  most  moderate  of  their  leading  men.  He  died 
at  Haddington  in  1559,  of  the  church  in  which  town  he  was 


55 

minister.  The  erudite  Patrick  had  a  sister,  Agnes,  married 
to  Patrick  Duns,  a  scion  of  the  old  family  of  Duns  of  that 
ilk.  She  had  the  liferent  of  East  Borthwick  settled  upon  her. 

ROBKRT,  the  third  son,  went  abroad,  and  rose  to  great 
distinction  in  the  French  court,  and,  with  James  Stewart, 
Earl  of  Moray,  stood  close  by  the  King,  Francis  the  First,  at 
his  coronation  in  1515. 

CHRISTOPHER,  the  fourth  son,  was  of  Chouslie  or 
Choicelee,  a  small  estate  in  the  vicinity  of  Langton  which  his 
descendants  possessed,  as  vassals  of  their  chief,  for  several 
generations. 

Alexander  Cockburn  married,  secondly,  Margaret 
de   Dundas.     Confirmation  of  the  settlement  made 
upon  her  and  himself  conjointly  of  the   barony  of 
Carriden    on    his  own   resignation  was  dated    i5th  Re^ 
March   1472.      Provision   was  made  therein   that  it  1*01156. 
was  to  descend  to  his  heirs  by  his  first  wife,  Eliza- 
beth de  Crechton.     It  does  not  appear  that  Margaret 
Dundas  had  any  children.     Alexander,  ninth  Baron, 
sold,   1 8th   July   1449,   the  lands    of   Barnehard,   in 
Carreden  barony,  to  Patrick  de  Cornewall,  called  de 
Barnehard,  his  predecessors  having  held  these  lands  ibid.,  vol.  iv., 
some  time  from  the  House  of  Langton.     The  charter  Na  3'3' 
was  witnessed  by  Sir  John  de  Cokburn  dominus  de 
Brunetun   and  Dalginche,  County  Fife.      This   Sir 
John  is  also  called  of  Torrie  in   1432,  and  is  men- 
tioned by  Sir  Robert  Sibbald. 


X.  SIR  WILLIAM  COCKBURN  OF  LANG- 
TON  AND  THAT  ILK    succeeded   his    father  in 
1480.      He  married  Anna,  daughter  of  Alexander,  Mylne's 
second  Lord    Home,   and    had    by  her  Alexander,  336.^' 


56 


LordTrea- 


William,  and  Christopher,  and  a  daughter,  Margaret, 
married  to  her  kinsman,  Sir  William  Cockburn  of 
Skirling.  She  was  one  of  the  ladies  of  Queen  Mar- 
garet's court,  and  appears  to  have  been  a  great 
favourite  and  personal  friend  of  Her  Majesty,  as  her 
father  and  eldest  brother  were  of  King  James  IV. 
Sir  William  was  frequently  in  attendance,  and  accom- 
panied him  in  his  expeditions,  in  which  sport  and 
amusements  of  various  kinds  were  combined  with 
business.  In  1504,  when  the  King  was  at  Canonbie, 
they  were  very  merry  hunting  the  deer  and  boars, 
dancing  and  playing  at  cards  in  the  evenings.  James 
had  to  make  more  than  one  request  for  money  to 
PaY  his  losses  —  chiefly  to  Lord  Dacre.  One  can 
quite  imagine  the  impetuous  monarch  would  not  be 
a  successful  player  at  anything  but  a  game  of  chance. 
MS.  Books  of  A  court  was  held  there  on  2ist  August  before  Alex- 
ander  Seton,  William  Cokburne  of  Langton,  and 
Patrick  Haliburton.  It  was  an  unhappy  time  for 
some  of  the  border  marauders  evidently,  for  viijd. 
paid  for  ane  raip  to  hing  the  thevis  in,  and  xiijs.  to 
the  man  that  hangit  thaim,  are  significant  memoranda 

-  -      ,  ..  Tr  .,...,.-, 

counts,io\-ifc-  of  the  proceedings.  He  went  with  his  ill-fated 
sovereign  to  Flodden  Field,  and  with  him  rode  his 
eldest  son,  Alexander,  and  no  doubt  William,  his 
second  son  also,  who  was  married  to  the  daughter 
of  Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn,  who  was  there 
also  with  his  stalwart  sons,  the  seven  spears  of  Wed- 
derburn. The  eldest,  George,  lay  dead  beside  his 
father,  and  Alexander,  apparent  of  Langton,  did  not 
return  to  tell  the  melancholy  news  of  his  father's 
death.  They  lay  all  four  beside  many  of  the 
noblest  of  Scotland's  chivalry  when  this  sorrowfull 
battel  was  stricken  and  ended  in  this  manner  at  the 


justiciary' 
Office,  vol. 


foi.  93,  p.  i. 


Lord  Trea- 

surer  's  Ac- 


57 

Flowdon  Hills  in  the  month  of  September,  the  ninth 
day,  in  the  zeire  of  God  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  thirteen  zeiris. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Sir  William  and  his  heir, 
and  Sir  David  Home  and  his,  died  as  brave  soldiers 
on  that  day.  Thomas  Lord  Dacre  wrote  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Council  i  7th  May  1514  as  follows: — 
"  My  Lords, — As  for  any  intelligence,  familiarite  or 
kyndnesse  that  is  betwixt  me  and  the  Chamberleyn, 
trewly  I  know  non,  for  in  the  felde  of  Branxton  Cauralffif 
(Flodden),  it  fortuned  that  I  and  my  freyndis,  beying  tory> p-  7' 
in  my  hoost  and  companye.  mett  the  Erie  of  Huntley 
and  the  Chamberlyn,  and  encountered  togedders, 
wher  as  Sr  John  Home,  S  William  Cokburne  of 
Langton,  Knights  ;  Cuthbert  Home  of  Fast  Castell, 
the  son  and  heir  of  Sr  David  Home,  the  lard  of 
Blacatre,  William  Carr,  and  three  brethren  of  the 
Brounfields,  gentilmen,  with  many  other  kynnesfolks, 
freynds  and  servaunts  of  the  said  Chambreleyn's,  were 
slayne  be  me  and  my  folks,  and  my  brother  Philip 
Dacre  taken  prisoner  with  many  other  my  kynes- 
folk  servaunts  and  tenaunts  taken  and  slayne  in 
the  said  battell  as  is  well  known. 

"  And  as  for  any  intelligence  had  with  any  Scot 
in  Scotland,  I  assure  your  Lordshipps  of  trouthe  I 
have  non,  as  shalbe  sufficiently  proved,  for  they  love 
me  worst  of  any  Inglishman  living,  be  reason  that  I 
fande  the  bodye  of  the  King  of  Scotts  slayne  in  the 
felde.  .  .  .  Have  kept  good  espials,  and  will  do 
so.  Did  not  think  proper  to  write  of  trifles  and 
flying  tailes." 

This  letter  was  dated  from  Kirkoswald,  i;th 
May  1514,  after  Lord  Dacre  had  burnt  and  de- 
stroyed, as  he  goes  on  to  describe,  "  six  times  moe 
townes  and  housys  within  the  west  and  middle 


58 

marches  of  Scotland  in  the  same  season  than  is  doone 
to  us.  "He  had  ravaged  and  desolated  all  the  western 
country  especially,  and  Eskdale  down  to  Canonby, 
where  he  had  ten  years  before  hunted  and  played 
cards  with  unfortunate  King  James,  Sir  William 
Cockburn,  and  the  rest,  and  won  their  money." 

His  allusion  to  "flying  tailes "  had  reference 
perhaps  to  the  absurd  story  of  King  James  being 
carried  off  by  Lord  Home  to  the  Castle  of  Home, 
and  there  put  to  death. 

The  fate  of  Sir  William  and  Alexander  Cokburn, 
and  Sir  David  and  George  Home  of  Wedderburn, 
and  their  kinsmen  and  friends,  was  a  better  one  far 
than  that  of  the  maligned  Lord  of  Home  and  his 
brother  William,  who,  after  a  mock  trial,  were  put  to 
death  by  the  weak,  and  at  the  same  time  sanguinary, 
John  Duke  of  Albany  in  1516. 

In  his  younger  days,  Sir  William  of  Langton,  who 
had  been  knighted    by  James  IV.,  was  not  unfre- 
Pitcaim's        quently    in    scrapes.     There   was    a    court    held   at 
Trials,  vol.  i.,  Lauder    before    the    nobil    Lords    Justices     Robert 
p' IS"  the     Lord     Lyle,    and     Laurence,    Lord    Oliphant, 

which  opened  on  November  gth,  1493,  being  dies 
Sabbati  (Saturday  or  Sabbath,  Sunday,  being  always 
translated  in  old  documents  dies  solis,  or  dies 
Dominica),  when  letters  of  remission  were  read, 
granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Berwickshire,  the  Merse, 
and  Lauderdale,  in  which,  referring  to  a  number  of 
persons  not  having  as  yet  availed  themselves  of  the 
pardon  given  at  the  time  of  his  coronation,  it  was 
announced  that  "  We  herefoir,  of  oure  special  grace 
and  favoris,  has  respectit,  remittit,  and  forgevin,  and 
be  oure  letteris  specialie  respectis,  remittes,  and  for- 
gevis  for  evermore,  all  and  syndri  oure  liegis  and 


59 

subditis,  inhabitant  the  boundis  of  oure  sherefdome 
of  Beruic,  the  Merse,  and  Lawdirdale,  of  quhat  estate, 
degre,  or  condition  thai  be  of,  to  be  unattachit,  un- 
arrestit,  unpersuit,  unfolowit  ony  maner  of  way  in 
all  tymez  to  cum  be  ony  of  our  officiaris,  liegis,  or 
subditis  foirsaidis,  for  ony  crimez,  offensis,  ressis, 
herschippis,  slauchteris,  byrnynges,  murthers,  tresonis, 
or  uther  trespassis  quhatsumever  committit  or  done 
ony  maner  of  way  before  the  date  of  our  corona- 
tioune  foresaide,"  &c.  On  that  day  a  number  of  the 
Baron's  dependents  in  Langtoune  were  tried,  and 
two  beheaded  there  and  then,  for  the  slauchter  of 
Thomas  Achinsoune ;  on  the  second  day  of  the 
assize  he  himself  and  nine  others  were  permitted  to 
compound  for  art  and  part  of  the  forethought  felony, 
and  "  hamesukin  "  (i.e.,  thrashing  or  assaulting  a 
man  in  his  own  house)  done  to  Robert  Sleich  and 
his  family  at  their  place  of  Oxindin  ;  and  further, 
William  Cokburne,  son  and  heir  of  the  laird  of  Lang- 
toune, came  in  the  King's  will  for  slaying  of  hares 
during  the  forbidden  time ;  for  letting  his  dogs  have 
a  run  on  Cockburn  Law,  we  may  presume.  He  had 
not  much  to  fear  for  coming  under  the  King's  will, 
he  and  his  son  Alexander  being  such  especial 
favourites  of  James  IV.,  who,  in  1510  granted  to 
them  the  following  charter,  which  it  will  be  well  to 
give  at  length,  on  account  of  its  peculiarity  in  con- 
stituting- the  office  of  principal  usher  an  appanage  of  Rtg-  Great 

Seal,  vol.  ii.. 

the  barony  : —  P.  733,  NO. 

3422. 

"  Rex  concessit  familiari  suo  Alexandra  Cokburne  filio  et 
heredi  apparent!  familiaris  sui  Willelmi  Cokburne  de  Langtoun 
militis,  camere  sue  hostiarii  principalis  et  heredibus  dicti  Alexandri 
• — terras  et  baroniam  de  Langtoun  cum  molendino  tenentibus  &c. 
vie  Beruik  ;  necnon  terras  et  baroniam  de  Carridin  et  molendinum 

M 


6o 

nuncupatum  le  loch-myll  de  Linlithgow,  cum  tenentibus  &c.  vie 
Linlithgow  una  cum  officis  principalis  hostiarii  regis,  capiendo  de 
rege  ac  domicilii  regii  servitoribus  liberationem  quotidie  pro  ipso, 
cum  duobus  armigeris  et  duobus  architenentibus  cum  eorum  equis 
et  servitoribus  pro  custodia  earundem ; — quas  dictus  Willelmus 
personaliter  resignavit ;  et  quas  baronias  rex  pro  bono  servitio 
incorporavit  in  unam  liberam  baroniam  de  Langtoun  cui  quidem 
univit  dictum  officium  ut  esset  dependentia  dicte  baronie  :  cum 
potestate  creandi  liberum  Burgum  in  baronia  infra  dictas  terras  de 
Langtoun  et  habendi  crucem  et  forum  singulis  ebdomadis  ac 
nundinas  publicas  bis  in  anno,  cum  aliis  privilegiis  sicut  dicto 
Alexandro  placeret — Proviso  quod  Burgenses  aliis  privilegiis  non 
uterentur  nisi  que  eisdem  per  dictum  Alexandrum  et  ejus  heredis 
data  forent — Reddendo  unam  denarium  argenti  nomine  albe  firme 
— Reservatis  libero  tenemento  dicto  Willelmo  necnon  rationabili 
tertio  ejus  sponse  cum  contingeret,  cum  libero  tenemento  terrarum 
de  Stobbis-Wod,  le  Crayis  et  Stokfute  ejus  sponse  reservato." 

I.  ALKXANDKR,  eldest  son  and  heir-apparent  of  Lang- 
ton  married  Mariota  Hepburne,  daughter  of  Archibald,  the 
grandson  of  Sir  Patrick  Hepburne,  Dominus  de  Dunsyar  and 
Register  Great  Sheriff  of  Berwickshire,  where  he  held  large  estates.    His  wife 

Seal,  vol.  ii.,  was  Mariota  Normanville,  heiress  of  Gargunnock,  County  Stir- 

ling, whose  large  properties  were  inherited  by  their  son  Alex- 
ander Hepburne.  Mariota  appears  to  have  been,  like  her 
husband's  sister,  Margaret  Cockburn,  an  especial  favourite  of 
Queen  Margaret  and  of  King  James  the  Fourth,  who,  on  i6th 
July  1510,  granted  confirmation  of  the  new  investitures  taken 
Ibid.,  Nos.  out  on  their  marriage  : — "  Familiaro  suo  Alexandro  filio  et 

3422,  3488.  heredi  apparent!  familiaris    sui  Willelmi  Cokburn  de  Lang- 

toune  militis  et  Mariote  Hepburne  sponse  dicti  Alexandri,"- 
of  the  joint  tenure  of  Carrydin,  and  the  church  lands  thereof, 
in  the  county  of  Linlithgow,  resigned  in  their  favour  by  his 
father  and  himself  for  this  purpose.  Mariota  had  as  her 
dower  lands  in  Quhitsun  [Whitsome],  in  the  Merse,  held  by 
her  father  from  Adam  Hepburn,  Lord  of  Halis.  They  had, 
with  three  daughters,  a  son  James,  who  succeeded  his  grand- 
father as  eleventh  Baron. 

MARIOTA,  the  eldest  daughter,  was  Prioress  of  North 
Berwick,  which  she  resigned  to  Margaret  Home  in 
1568. 


6i 

ELIZABETH  married  John  Boswall  of  Bowhill,  son  of  Sir  Douglas' 
Alexander  Boswall  or  Boisvill  of  Balmuto,  who  fell  at  %£***  p' 
Flodden,  by  his  second  wife,  Alison,  sister  of  Sir  James 
Sandilands  of  Calder. 

JEAN,  the  youngest,  married  John  Renton  of  Billie,  in 
the  Merse,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  The  will  of 
"Jean  Cockburn,  Lady  Billie,"  was  recorded  in  1586. 

They  were  all  young  children  when  their  father 
fell  on  that  day,  when,  as  the  war  correspondent  with 
the  English  army  wrote  thirty  years  afterwards, 
"  the  Scottische  menne  had  a  grate  overthrow  from  vs 
at  Floddom-Felde,  and  thair  Kyng  Jamy  was  slayne, 
and  thairfor  thys  day  is  not  smally  markt  amongst 
them." 

Great  indeed  must  have  been  the  distress  in 
Langton  Castle  when  the  terrible  tidings  came  that 
amongst  those  who  had  gone  forth  in  the  pride  of 
their  strength  with  the  border  warriors,  led  by  the 
gallant  Home,  to  fall  on  that  fatal  field,  were  the 
Baron  William  and  his  son.  To  the  stout-hearted 
brave  "  Lad  ye  Anna  Home,  auld  Ladye  Langtoune," 
who  survived  for  some  considerable  time  afterwards, 
fell  the  hard  task  of  trying,  whilst  herself  mourning 
for  her  husband  and  her  son,  to  comfort  Mariota, 
left  with  her  fatherless  children  to  the  charge  of 
guardians  in  days  when  might  made  right,  and 
young  heirs  did  not  always  come  by  their  own. 

II.  WILLIAM,    second   son  of  Sir  William  and  Lady 
Anna  Home,  became  of  Cockburn,  of  whose  family  in  its 
place. 

III.  CHRISTOPHKR,  their  youngest  son,  [Cristofle  de 
Quokebron,  as  his  name  appears   sometimes  in  the  record 
books  of  France,  and   at   others   Cokbron,]  went  early  to 


62 


Forbes  Leith's 
Scots  Men  at 
Arms  and  Life 
Guards  in 
France,  vol.  i., 
p.  92. 


State  Papers 
[France}  rela- 
ting to  Scot- 
land, vol.  ii., 
P.  39°. 


Scots  Men  at 
Arms,  vol.  ii., 
p.  222. 

Sir  W.  Fraser's 
Scotts  of 
Buccleucft,  vol. 
i.,  p.  173. 


Francisque- 
Michel's 
Les  Ecossais 
en  France, 
vol.  i.,  p.  281, 
283. 

Playfair's 
British 
Antiquities, 
vol.  viii.,  p. 
303- 


that  country,  where  the  spirited  young  men  of  the  noble 
Scottish  families  were  then  wont  to  seek  a  field  for  distinction 
and  glory,  as  well  as  advancement  in  the  world.  His  uncle, 
Robert  Cockburn,  had  risen  there  to  a  high  position,  and,  as 
mentioned  above,  with  James  Stewart,  Earl  of  Moray,  stood 
close  by  the  King  [Francis  the  First]  at  his  coronation  in 
1515.  There  were  during  many  centuries  several  of  the  name 
of  Cockburn  constantly  found  on  the  rolls  of  the  "  Garde 
Ecossaise  du  corps  du  Roi."  In  1578  M.  le  Capitane  Cobron 
came  to  Scotland  with  letters  from  "  M.  de  Castlenau  au 
Roi,"  dated  i2th  November  of  that  year,  in  which  he  stated 
"  le  Capitaine  Cobron  est  icy  qui  m'a'  faict  faire  plusseurs 
recommendations  de  tous  les  Seigneurs  de  ce  Conseil,  pour 
escrire  h.  vostre  Majestd  en  sa  faveur,  affin  d'avoir  pitie  de 
luy  et  luy  faire  donner  quelque  chose  de  ses  pentions,  Je  croy 
qu'il  partira  bientost  d'icy  et  ne  luy  pourray  reffuser  les 
lettres  qu'il  me  demande,  et  dont  Je  suis  prie,  aussis  que  c'est 
une  bon  pauvre  homme,  &c."  This  person  was  not  one  of 
the  fortunate  scions  of  the  house  of  Langton,  who  for  some 
time  flourished  greatly  in  the  land  of  their  adoption,  their 
names  appearing  in  the  rolls  of  the  Noblesse  of  Champagne 
and  in  other  public  documents  as  "  de  Cokbornes  Seigneurs 
et  Barons  de  Villeneuve-au-Chemin,  and  Vicomtes  et 
Seigneurs  de  Fussy." 

In  1600  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling  was  one  of  the 
jury  who  investigated  the  claim  of  Gualtier  Scot  [an  officer  of 
the  Card  Ecossaise,]  to  be  of  the  house  of  Buccleuch,  and 
their  decision  that  he  had  proved  himself  to  be  the  grandson 
of  Bernard,  son  of  Gualtier  Scot,  who  had  gone  to  France  in 
1540,  was  proved,  and  signed  by  BACLOUGH.  So  in  like 
manner  in  1664  Esme  Eleonor  de  Cokborne,  son  of  Guil- 
laume  de  Cokbrone,  Baron  de  Villeneuve,  came  over  to 
Scotland,  and  got  a  patent  of  nobility  under  the  sign-manual 
of  King  Charles  II.,  in  which  it  was  set  forth  that  he  was 
lineally  descended  from  the  House  of  Langton. 

Adam  de  Cokborne,  e'cuyer  Marechal-des-logis  des  gardes 
e'cossaises,  married  damoiselle  Gabrielle  de  Fontaine  Dame 
et  Barronne  de  la  ViUr~.euve-au-chemin.  Their  son  suc- 
ceeded to  the  estate  and  dignity. 

In  a  note  to  the  account  of  the  family  of  Cockburn  in  Mr. 
Playfair's  work,  this  Adam  is  stated  to  have  been  the  son  of 
William  Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  but  no  son  so  called  is  men- 


63 

tioned  in  his  will.  William  was  the  son  of  Christopher 
Cockburn  of  Choicelee.  He  had  a  brother  named  Adam, 
but  he  was  not  in  the  Scots  Guards  in  France;  so  the 
husband  of  Gabrielle  de  Fontaine  may  have  been  the  son  of 
Christopher,  the  Baron  of  Langton's  son,  as  claimed  by  the 
Barons  de  Villeneuve.  In  1798  Guillaume-Henri  de  Cock- 
burne  paid  a  visit  to  the  home  of  his  ancestors.  His  family 
had  been  ruined  in  the  Revolution,  and  he,  its  representative, 
was  then  an  officer  in  the  French  army.  In  a  letter  of  his  to 
John  Cockburn-Ross  of  Rowchester  and  Shandwick  [in  the 
author's  possession],  his  descent  from  the  above-named  Esme" 
or  Ayme'e  de  Cokbron,  Baron  de  Villeneuve-au-Chemin,  is 
clearly  stated.  [Esme"  Stewart's  name  was  also  written  Aymee 
when  he  came  over  from  France  to  prosecute  his  claim  to  the 
Lennox  estates  and  honours.] 

The  "  Viscomtes  de  Cokburn "  in  Berry  may  have 
descended  from  that  Seigneur  Cocquebourne,  son-in-law  of 
Claude  de  la  Chastre,  who  was  Lieutenant  "de  Seigneur 
d'Aulbigny,"  and  died  in  1495.  Sous  M.  M.  d'Aubigny  et 
Coqueborne  les  arches  ecossais  etaient  commandos  par 
Capitaines  de  leur  nation.  Jean  de  Coqueborne  que  Francisque- 
Guillemette  Batard  epousd.  en  secondes  noces  fvers  i^Sl  Michel  s 

Jo   J    Les  Ecossajs 

etait  fils  de  Messire  Georges  de  Coqueborne,  Capitain  de  en  France, 
cent  Ecossais  de  la  garde  du  Roi,  s'habitua  en  Berry  et  y  P-  283- 
acheta  la  terre  de  Fussy.  His  descendants  were  Viscomtes 
de  Fussy.  M.  Michel  quotes  these  notices  from  various 
authorities,  such  as  the  Genealogie  de  la  famille  de  Cokburne 
dans  "les  Reserches  de  la  Noblesse  de  Champagne,"  the 
"  Nobiliare  Universel  de  France,"  &c.  He  found  it  difficult 
to  trace  the  different  branches  clearly,  and  observes  "  entre 
ces  temoignages  contradictoires,  on  doit  comprendre  notre 
embarras."  Guillemette  Batard  above  named  had  married 
first,  another  officer  of  the  Garde  Ecossais,  David  Lisle,  son 
of  Honore  de  Lisle  and  Andrevette  de  Boniface. 

The  cadets  of  the  house  of  Langton  established  in  France 
held  a  high  position  in  their  adopted  country.  The  principal 
branch  carried  the  simple  paternal  coat.  The  author  quoted 
says,  La  famille  de  Coqueborne  etablie  dans  la  Berry  portait, 
'd'argent  a  trois  coqs  de  gueules'  brisd  pour  la  branch  de 
Fussy  '  (fun  cor  de  meme  en  abime,'  ou  suivant  la  Genealogie  du 
nobiliare  manuscrit  on  maintennes  du  Berry  d 'argent  a  trois 
coqs  de  Gueules  au  Cor  de  de  Chasse  de  Sable  lie  d'or  en  cceur. 


64 


Another  family  is  mentioned,  i.e.,  that  of  Fontaine  det 
Coqueburne,  com  portant  tf  azur  au  chevron  d'or  accompagne" 

de  cinq  coqs  d'argent  ecartele"  de 
gueules,  mais  il  n'y  a  pas  douter, 
que  ce  ne  soil  une  branche  col- 
late'rale,  issue  du  marriage 
d'Adam  de  Cokborne  ecuyer, 
avec  Gabrielle  de  Fontaine,  Dame 
et  Baronne  de  la  Villeneuve-au- 
chemin.  Azure  is  not  often 
found  as  a  tincture  in  a  Cock- 
burn's  shield.  One  scion  of  the 
family  appears  to  have  adopted 
it.  In  1540  George  Bullock, 
"  master  gonner  of  Berwick-upon-Tweed,  wonne  an  armes 
of  a  Scottish  gentilman,  one  of  the  house  of  Cockburn, 
which  had  certayne  moor  cockes  standinge  in  a  shielde, 
thone  half  blacke  and  the  other  half  blewe."  This  Scottish 
gentilman,  stripped  of  his  armour,  may  have  been  a  con- 
nection of  the  ancestor  of  the  French  family  who  bore  the 
above  peculiar  coat.  Whether  he  carried  white  cocks  or  not, 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  curious  document  regarding  the 
conquest  of  his  armour  [a  copy  of  which  will  be  found 
elsewhere],  but  very  probably  he  did. 

There  was  also  a  family  of  the  name  descended  from 
Pierre  Cokborne,  ecuyer  seigneur  de  la  Rippe  de  Magny  et 
en  partie  de  Pouilly  marie',  era  1621,  avec  Francoise  du  Bois. 


XI.  SIR  JAMES  COCKBURN  OF  LANGTON 
succeeded  his  grandfather,  Sir  William,  killed  at 
Flodden.  He  was  Sheriff  of  Berwickshire  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary,  and  during  the  time  of  her 
mother's  regency. 

It  is  certain  that  he  was  a  minor,  and  still  under 
the  guardianship  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of  East  Borth- 
wick  when  the  Warden  de  la  Bastie  was  slain. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  one  of  the  Cock- 
burns  who  are  stated  to  have  taken  themselves  off 


65 

across    the     Border    with    the    Homes    after    the 
tragedy. 

He  may  possibly  have  been  a  spectator,  being  in 
company  with  old  Patrick,  his  granduncle,  and  per- 
haps the  other  guardians,  Sir  Adam  Nisbet  of  that 
Ilk  and  Chirnside  of  Chirnside.  If  he  was,  no 
doubt  he  would  sympathise  with  the  actors  for  the 
Lord  Home  and  his  brother  William,  put  to  death 
by  Albany,  were  his  granduncles,  and  he  knew  how 
he  had  seized  the  castle  and  ravaged  the  lands  of 
Home.  It  has  been  said  by  more  than  one  of  the 
old  historians  that  his  uncle  William,  offended  at  not 
being  appointed  one  of  the  guardians,  and  depending 
upon  the  assistance  of  his  brother-in-law,  Sir  David 
Home  of  Wedderburn,  proceeded  to  extremities,  and 
actually  turned  his  nephew  and  his  tutor  out  of 
Langton  Castle.  This,  however,  seems  most  im- 
probable. Considering  that  two  of  the  guardians 
were  also  nearly  related  to  Wedderburn  —  Patrick 
having  married  Sir  David's  aunt,  and  Nisbet,  if  not 
already  married,  betrothed  to  Sir  David's  daughter— 
the  other  guardian,  Sir  Robert  Blackadder  of  that 
Ilk,  had  been  killed  at  Flodden  with  his  friend 
Alexander  Cockburn,  and  left  two  daughters  co- 
heiresses, Beatrice  and  Margaret,  married  to  Sir 
David's  brothers,  John  and  Robert  [by  compulsion, 
it  is  said]  ;  it  is  much  more  likely  that  those  are 
correct  who  agree  with  Mr.  Guthrie  in  supposing 
that  it  was  a  seeming  quarrel  that  had  been  got  up 
between  William  Cockburn  and  the  rest,  to  settle  Guttme's  His- 
which  the  unfortunate  Warden  came  to  Langton,  j^i^s/'' 
and  to  his  death,  as  described  in  Pitscottie's  words, 
already  quoted.  Guthrie  says  many  Homes  and 
Cockburns  were  denounced  rebels,  and  orders  given 


66 


Redpath's 
Border  His- 
tory, p.  507. 


Pitcairn's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  p.  143 


Redpath's 
Border  His- 
tory, p.  621. 


History  of 
Mary  Stuart, 
byClaudeNau, 
edited  by  the 
Rev.  Joseph 
Stevenson, 
P-43- 


to  the  new  Warden  to  seize  the  Castles  of  Home, 
Langton,  and  Wedderburn,  which  were  surrendered 
at  discretion,  and  strong  garrisons  placed  in  them. 

As  a  young  man,  Sir  James  was  found  sometimes 
mixed  up  in  the  affairs  so  common  at  the  time. 
There  was  a  deadly  feud  betwixt  the  Edmonstones 
of  that  Ilk  and  the  Wauchopes  of  Niddry-Marischall. 
In  1529  Langton  took  part  in  an  encounter  with 
Patrick  Cockburn  of  Newbigging,  John  Pennicuike 
of  that  Ilk,  Patrick  Sydserf  of  that  Ilk,  Lauder  of 
Bass,  Cockburn  of  Newhall,  with  their  respective 
followers,  in  support  of  Gilbert  Wauchope  of  Nuddry- 
Marschal  against  George  Lord  Home  and  ninety- 
eight  others,  chiefly  Trotters,  Dicksons,  and  Brown- 
fields,  ranged  on  the  side  of  John  of  Edmonstone. 

But  he  proved  a  true  and  loyal  man,  and  was 
during  all  his  life  the  bold  and  faithful  adherent  of 
Queen  Mary,  whom,  as  previously  noticed,  he  had 
the  honour  of  entertaining  at  his  Castle  of  Langton 
in  1566.  He  marched  with  his  retainers  in  force  to 
Carberry  Hill.  Her  secretary  Nau  says  that  when 
pressed  by  the  Lords  Morton  and  Home  (the  latter 
had  espoused  the  side  of  the  rebel  lords  for  a  time, 
but  afterwards  repented  himself  and  returned  to  his 
allegiance),  "  Bothuil  tire  le  mesme  jour  le  Royne 
hors  de  cette  fortresse,  et  la  conduict  a  Dunbar  ou 
les  vendrient  trouver  Lords  de  Seton,  Yester,  et 
Borthwicke,  Lairds  de  Wakton,  Bas,  Ormiston, 
Wedderburne,  Blacater  et  Langton  faisons  tous 
ensemble  quatre  mils  hommes."  The  Ormiston  here 
referred  to  was  not  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  who  un- 
fortunately had  ranged  himself  on  the  opposite  side, 
but  Ormiston  of  that  Ilk,  in  Roxburghshire. 

The   high-spirited   barons    who   stood    by   their 


6; 


Queen  must  have  felt  deeply  for  her  when  the 
execrable  Bothwell  fled,  after  refusing  to  enter  the 
lists  against  that  loyal  warrior,  "  meek  and  gentle 
like  a  lamb  in  the  house,  but  like  a  lion  in  the  field," 
Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  or  Murray  of  Tullibardine  and 
Lord  Lindsay  of  the  Byres,  who  each  challenged 
him  to  a  duel  to  prove  his  innocence  of  Darnley's 
murder,  but  he  went  off,  and  took  ship  at  Dunbar, 
leaving  Mary  to  submit  to  her  enemies.  Langton 
and  others  of  her  faithful  adherents  hastily  got  some 
men  together  afterwards,  and  very  nearly  succeeded 
in  intercepting  the  rebels,  whom  they  learned  were 
carrying  their  mistress  to  Lochleven  Castle.  On 
1 3th  May  1568,  he  again,  with  a  strong  following, 
marched  under  her  banner  to  Langside,  after  which 
day — rendered  so  fatal  to  her  by  the  headlong  im- 
petuosity, although  accompanied  as  it  was  by  the 
most  dauntless  valour  of  her  supporters — he  saw  his 
beloved  Queen  no  more.  In  1575  Langton  Castle 
was  occupied  by  the  Regent  Morton,  who  has  been 
described  as  "  a  character  almost  the  most  frightful 
of  all  those  produced  by  his  age  and  nation."  His 
unhappy  end  could  produce  no  feeling  of  pity  in  the 
heart  of  even  the  amiable  Doctor  Pennicuick,  who 
could  but  regard  it  as  an  instance  of  retributive 
justice"  that  he  "hanselled  the  merceless  maiden, 
which  hideous  engine  of  death  he  had  brought  from 
France  to  be  head  his  ancestor  with,  the  Laird  Penne- 
cuikofthat  Ilk." 

The  Regent  rode  each  morning  to  Foulden  from 
Langton  to  meet  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  Queen 
Elizabeth's  envoy,  who  lay  at  Berwick,  and  give  him 
the  immediate  satisfaction  she  demanded  for  the  rout 
of  her  Warden  and  his  followers  by  the  Ruthirfurds 

N 


Keith's  His- 
tory, pp.  401- 
443- 


Ibid.,  p.  404. 


Robert  Cham- 
bers' King 
James  VI., 
p.  61. 


Pennicuik's 
Tweedale,  p. 
191. 


Redpath's 
Border  His- 
tory, p.  651, 
note. 


68 


Reg.  of  Privy 
Council,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  385. 


Redpath's 
Border  His- 
tory, p.  672. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  1752. 


and  men  of  Jedburgh  and  Hawick,  and  their  allies, 
at  the  Red  Swyre.  This  the  obsequious  Morton  (a 
man  sold  to  all  wickedness,  Archbishop  Spottis- 
woode  designates  him)  at  once  did  in  "the  most 
humble  manner.  On  the  23d  March  1587  the  Com- 
missioners sent  by  Elizabeth  to  meet  those  appointed 
by  King  James  to  hear  the  vindication  offered  by 
her  for  the  execution  of  his  mother  the  Queen,  met 
at  the  same  place.  The  old  Baron  was  not  there  to 
see  these  convenient  emissaries  ride  forth  from  the 
gates  of  Langton  Castle  on  this  errand,  being  then 
dead.  Three  years  before  his  death  he  had  been 
constrained  to  grant  a  bond  for  ^1000  to  the  Earl 
of  Morton,  along  with  James  Hamilton  of  Samuels- 
toun.  In  1588  King  James  VI.  was  at  Langton, 
and  thence  ventured  to  ride  near  enough  to  Berwick 
to  get  a  good  view  of  the  town. 

Sir  James  Cockburn  married  first  Joneta,  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Ottirburn  of  Reidhall  by  his  wife  Joneta 
Stewart,  and  by  her  had  Alexander,  heir-apparent  of 
Langton,  William  Patrick,  Adam,  James  Thomas, 
and  John,  and  three  daughters.  Margaret  married  to 
Patrick  Hepburne  of  "  Ouhitcastell ;"  they  had  joint 
charter  22d  August  1566  from  her  aunt,  "  the  Ladye 
Elizabethe  Hepburne,  Prioress  of  Haddington,"  of 
some  properties  ;  and  Mariota  married  to  her  cousin 
Thomas  Ottirburn,  younger  of  Reidhall,  whose 
ancestors  were  originally  of  Ottirburn,  in  the  parish 
of  Morebattle,  County  Roxburgh. 

I.  ALEXANDER,  the  eldest  son  and  heir-apparent  of 
Langton,  had,  gth  January  1542,  new  charter  of  the  baronies 
of  Langton  and  Carridin  in  similar  terms  as  that  granted  to 
his  grandfather  by  James  IV.  in  1510,  which  it  may  be  well 
to  give,  also  the  excerpt  thereof  as  it  appears  in  the  Register 


69 

of  the  Great  Seal.  It  proves  that  Sir  William,  killed  at 
Flodden,  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  Sir  James,  and  not 
by  William,  as  appears  in  some  genealogies  of  the  family,  or 
by  his  eldest  surviving  son,  John,  as  stated  in  the  fanciful 
pedigree  of  Cockburn,  styled  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  Baronet, 
given  by  Playfair,  and  followed  in  other  publications. 

"  Apud  Edinburgh  9  Jan.  1542. — Rex  pro  bono  servitio  Rtg.  Gnat 
Jacobi  Cockburne  de  Langtoune  ac  pro  compositione  perso-  •^a*<  vo1-  '"•> 
luto  concessit  et  de  novo  dedit  ALEXANDRO  Cokburne  filio  et 
heredi  apparente  dicti  JACOBI,  heredibus  ejus  et  assignatis, 
terras  et  Baroniam  de  Langtoune  cum  castro,  turre,  fortalicio, 
maneriis,  molendinis,  piscatoriis,  toftis,  croftis,  pendiculis  &c. 
vie  Berwik,  terras  et  Baroniam  de  Carridin,  cum  molendino 
earundem  vocato  lie  Lochmyll  de  Linlithgw,  cum  granerio, 
toftis,  croftis,  lie  outsettis  tenentibus  de  vie  Linlithgw ;  cum 
officio  ostiarii  regis  principalis ; — quas  et  quod  [per  regem 
Jacobum  IV.  in  Baroniam  de  Langtoune  incorporatas  pro 
unica  sasina  per  quondam  ALEXANDRUM  COKBURNE  de  Lang- 
toun  patrem  dicti  JACOBI  et  ejus  heredis  apud  fortalicum  de 
Langtoune  capienda]  dictus  Jacobus  resignavit  et  quas  Rex 
de  novo  incorporavit  in  Liberam  Baroniam  de  Langtoune 
Tenend.  cum  privilegio  libere  foreste  cum  potestate  creandi 
villam  de  Langtoune  liberam  Burgum  in  baronia,  habendi  in 
eadem  crucem  et  forum  hebdomidatem,  ac  liberas  nundinas 
bis  in  anno  cum  aliis  liberis  burgi  privilegiis  in  burgensium 
creatione,  administratione  et  executione  justitie,  electione 
ballivorum  &c.  pro  ut  Dictis  Alexandri  &c.  melius  visum  foret 
proviso  quod  Burgenses  aliis  privilegiis  non  uterentur  nisi,  ne 
per  dictum  Alexandrum  &c.  concessit  ferent.  REDEND.  annua- 
tim  unum  denarium  albe  firme.  Reservatis  libero  tenemento 
dicto  JACOBI,  necnon  libero  tenemento  proprietatis  terrarum  et 
baronie  de  Carryddin  dicto  JACOBO  et  JONETE  OTTIRBURNE 
ejus  sponse  et  eorum  alteris  diutius  vivente ;  cum  rationabile 
tertia  omnium  dictis  terrarum  dicte  Jonete  aut  cui  cunque 
alteri  sponse  dicti  Jacobi  cum  contingeret." 

Alexander,  with  consent  of  his  father,  Sir  James,  disposed  Ibid.,  vol.  iv., 
of  the  lands  and  barony  of  Carrydin,  in  Linlithgovv,  to  Robert 
Carnegie  of  Kynnarde,  confirmation  being  given  under  the 
Great  Seal  i8th  February  1552.  A  portion  of  the  estate  had 
been  alienated  with  the  mill  called  Le  Lochmylne,  the  hill 
called  Mylne  Hill,  with  the  aqueduct  lie  Wattergang  of  the 
King's  loch  of  Linlithgow,  with  the  lie  suckin,  &c.,  by  his 


;o 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  73- 


General  Regis- 
ter of  Sasines, 
County  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  x., 
fol.  348. 


Register  of 
Deeds,  Scott. 
Office,  vol.  23, 
fol.  173- 


father,  with  consent  of  his  wife,  Janet  Ottirburn,  to  William 
Dennistoune  or  Danzielstoune,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  was 
second  wife  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington.  This  deed 
was  executed  by  Sir  James  at  Langton  Castle  2ist  September 
1540.  The  Queen's  confirmation  thereof  was  dated  i2th 
March  1546.  On  i3th  August  1666  was  registered  a  deed  by 
Sir  Archibald  Cockburn,  second  Baronet  of  Langton,  granting 
confirmation  of  the  barony  of  Carridin  to  Anna,  Duchess  of 
Hamilton,  as  follows  : — "  Forasmuch  as  I  stand  heritably 
infeft  and  seased  in  all  and  haill  the  lands  and  baronie  of 
Carridin,  with  the  mylne  and  pertinents  thereof,  lyand  within 
the  sherifdome  of  Linlithgow,  as  being  ane  pairt  and  portion 
of  the  lands  and  baronie  of  Langtoun,  quhairunto  the  samen 
was  annexed  and  conjoyned  by  virtue  and  conforme  to  ane 
charter  granted  to  umquhill  Alexander  Cockburne  of  Lang- 
toune  my  .  .  .  under  the  Great  Scale,  of  the  date  of  the 
nynth  of  Januarie  jmvic  fourtie-ane  yeiris,  notwithstanding  I 
find  by  authentick  wreats  and  evidents  produced  to  me  that 
the  said  umquhile  Alexander  Cockburne,  my  grandsire's 
brother,  with  consent  of  Umquhill  James  Cockburn,  his  father, 
was  formallie  and  legallie  denudit  of  all  and  haill  the  said 
lands  and  baronie  of  Carridin,"  in  favour  of  the  deceased 
Robert  Carnegie  of  Kinnaird,  by  contract  of  alienation  of  date 
1 5th  February  1552  ;  which  lands  and  barony  were  disposed 
by  the  said  Robert  Carnegie  in  favour  of  the  late  James,  Earl 
of  Arran,  and  are  now  possessed  by  Anna,  Duchess  of  Hamil- 
ton, as  heir  by  progress  to  the  said  deceased  Earl,  in  whose 
favour  the  said  Sir  Archibald  Cockburne,  by  the  present  deed, 
renounces  the  said  lands  and  baronie  of  Carridin,  dated  at 
Langtoun  2ist  July  1666. 

Alexander  Cockburn,  heir-apparent  of  Langton,  appears  to 
have  died  unmarried  or  without  issue  before  1574,  in  which 
year  a  deed  was  executed  by  his  father,  Sir  James,  and  his 
second  son,  William,  to  be  referred  to  presently,  by  which  it 
appears  that  Alexander's  sale  of  Carridin  had  not  then  been 
carried  into  effect. 

II.  WILLIAM,  who  succeeded  his  father,  of  whom  pre- 
sently. 

III.  PATRICK,  the  third  son  of  Sir  James  by  his  first 
wife,  appears  to  have  been  an  amiable  as  well  as  trustworthy 


man,  always  helping  to  get  his  friends  and  relatives  out  of 
scranes.  Over  and  over  again  in  Pitcairn's  Criminal  Trials  the 
name  of  Patrick,  son  to  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Langton,  is 
found  as  suretie  for  persons  ordered  to  appear  to  underlie  the 
law  for  crimes  to  be  imputed  to  them.  In  1572  he  became 
answerable  for  the  appearance  of  Sir  John  Ramsay,  accused 
of  contravening  the  "  actis  and  ministrationis  of  the  Sacra- 
mends  in  ye  Papistical  manner,"  for  which  the  said  Sir  John 
stood  in  danger  of  being  "brint."  In  1592  he  came  into  court 
before  his  kinsmen,  Sir  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  Justice- 
Clerk,  and  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkingtoune,  Lord 
Priuie  Seal,  to  give  security  for  George  Haitlie  of  Hadland  (a 
scion  of  the  old  family  of  Haitlie  of  Mellerstain,  whose 
ancestor  Alexander  signed  the  deed  of  homage  in  1296), 
who  was  a  relative,  and  had  been  summoned  to  answer,  along 
with  Lord  Glencairn,  Lord  Gray,  Edmonstone  of  that  Ilk, 
and  many  more,  "  twicheing  the  observatione  of  peax  and 
gude  reule  in  the  country,  onder  pane  of  rebellioune."  He 
was  tutor  of  Langton  for  his  nephew  William,  his  brother 
William's  son,  and  was  owner  of  the  property  of  East  Borth- 
wick,  in  Langton  barony,  of  which  he  had  charter  in  August 
1587,  and  had  previously  got  a  charter  of  Barjarg.  This  was 
the  second  time  a  Patrick,  designated  of  East  Borthwick,  was 
guardian  of  the  heir  of  an  Alexander,  apparent  of  Langton, 
but  not  destined  himself  to  come  into  possession.  He  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Patrick  Home  of  Renton,  and  in  his 
will,  dated  at  Langton  Castle  in  1601,  shortly  before  his 
death,  he  appointed  her  and  her  brother,  John  Home,  por- 
tioner  of  Renton,  executors,  and  his  wife  to  be  sole  tutrix 
of  their  children.  He  did  not  accumulate  much  property 
himself,  well  as  he  guarded  that  of  others,  his  personal  effects 
being  of  not  more  value  than  the  amount  of  his  liabilities,  i.e., 
^£9000.  He  was  particular  in  mentioning  that  he  owed  to 
"  John  Cockburn,  faderbroder  to  the  laird  of  Cockburn,  for 
ane  ox,  xx.  Ib."  He  had  three  daughters  :  Margaret,  married 
first  to  her  kinsman,  Alexander  Home  of  Renton ;  secondly 
to  Sir  William  Graham  of  Braco,  county  Perth,  who  gave  her 
sasine  in  1625  of  part  of  the  lands  of  Drumquhandle.  Jeane 
was  the  second  daughter.  On  3ist  December  1634,  "  sasine 
was  given  to  Jeane  Cockburn,  sister-german  to  ane  honorabill 
man,  Patrick  Cockburn  of  East  Borthwick,  of  half  the  lands 
of  Forgandenny,  apprised  from  Sir  James  Oliphant,  Knight 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  lib. 
xxxv.,  p.  889, 
lib.  xlvi.,  p. 
S20. 


Commiss.  of 
Eciin.  Test., 
vol.  xxxvi. 


Sasines,  Perth- 
shire, vol.  i.( 
fol.  324  ;   voL 
vi.,  fol.  196. 


Inqiiisit. 
Ketorn. 
Abbrev., 
County  Ber- 
wick, vii.,  2. 


Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  p.  74. 


Efiin.  Reg.  of 
Testaments, 
vol.  xlii. 


Reg.  of  Privy 
Council,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  48. 


Baronet."     Agnes,  the  third  daughter,  married  Hugh,  son  of 
James  Eccles  of  Kildonan,  County  Ayr. 

His  eldest  son,  Patrick,  was  retoured  heir  to  East  Borthwick, 
in  the  parish  of  Dunse  and  barony  of  Langton,  27th  November 
1617,  to  which  his  son  John  was  served  heir,  ist  May  1683. 
He  married  Anna,  sister  of  Sir  David  Home,  Lord  Crossrig, 
Senator  of  the  College  of  Justice,  and  had  a  daughter,  Anna 
Cockburn,  married  to  Thomas  Baillie  of  Polkemmet,  who 
settled  an  annuity  of  1200  merks  upon  her  out  of  the  lands  of 
Polkemmet  by  their  marriage-contract,  dated  7th  December 
1701.  John  Swinton  of  Swinton,  the  Quaker  laird,  who  was 
persecuted  with  such  rigour,  and  narrowly  escaped  death  for 
his  opinions,  was  witness  to  this  deed. 

IV.  ADAM,  the  fourth  son,  was  Sheriff  of  Berwickshire, 
and   was    of   those    holding   similar   office  who    were    sum- 
moned,   loth  January  1600,  to  account  for  the  manner  in 
which  they  they  had  disposed  of  the  revenues  of  their  respec- 
tive shires.     Sir  George  Home  was  excused  for  not  appearing 
on  account  of  "  his  sickness,"  and  the  Lord  Yester  because 
of  the  compearance  of  his  deputy,   William   Horsburgh  of 
Horsburgh ;  but  the  Lords  ordained   that  Adam  Cockburn 
should  be  declared  a  rebel  for  not  appearing  himself  or  by 
deputy.     He  had  no  doubt  used  the  money  during  the  time 
he  held  the  position  in  a  manner  not  in  accordance  with  the 
views  of  the  Government  at  the  time,  his  family  being  loyal 
to  their  Queen. 

V.  JAMES,  fifth  son,  was  styled  of  Selburnrigg,  of  which 
property,   in    Lammermoor,  under  Dirrington-Law  [Diuring- 
don],  he  had  possession  from  his  father,  subject  to  his  step- 
mother's liferent  charge  thereon.     Sasine  in  fee  was  given  to 
him  after  her  death  by  his  brother  William,  Laird  of  Langton. 
He  was  living  there  when  he   witnessed,  with   his   brother 
Patrick,  tutor  of  Langton,  then  in  Stobiswoode,  the  will  of 
Elizabeth    Sinclair,    widow    of   his    half-brother   Alexander, 
styled  of  the  latter  place  and  Leyiswod,  3d  January  1609,  and 
was  one  of  "  the  brethren  of  William  Laird  of  Langton,"  for 
whom  Patrick,  as  tutor  thereof,  gave  security  that  they  would 
not,  with  steil  bonnettis  on  their  heads,  and  weapons  invasive 
in  their  hands,  disturb  their  neighbour's  peace,  and  "  invade 
them  to  their  slauchter."     His  wife  Marion  was  a  daughter  of 


73 

the  family  of  Quhytelaw  [Whytelaw],  who  long  held  lands  in 
the  parish  of  Greenlaw.  James  Quhytelaw,  son  of  Quhytelaw 
of  that  Ilk,  had  confirmation  under  the  Great  Seal  of  James  II. 
of  the  charter  from  John  Heryng,  dominus  de  Edmeresdene 
[Edmiston]  vie  Berwick,  of  "  ro  mercatas  terrarum  in  villa  Rep.  Great 
et  territorio  de  Greenlaw,  ex  parte  occidentali  Aque  de  Blac-  Seal,  vol.  ii., 
adre  in  comitatu  marchie  vie  Berwici ;  que  terre  vulgariter  °'  ^' 
vocantur  Blasonbrade."  His  grandson,  James  Cockburn  of 
Selburnrigg,  is  numbered  amongst  the  many  of  his  race  who 
suffered  for  their  loyalty;  he  was  faithful  to  the  cause  of 
Charles  I.,  and  had  to  take  refuge  abroad  for  a  time,  leaving 
his  lands  and  the  titles  thereto  in  the  hands  of  his  kinsman 
and  chief  Sir  William,  who  kept  possession,  as  under  similar 
circumstances,  the  lands  of  a  branch  of  the  Dalrymples 
were  afterwards  retained  by  Lord  Stair.  Selburnrigg  was 
included  in  the  new  charter  obtained  by  Sir  Archibald.  It 
was  but  a  wild  heather-covered  country  for  the  most  part, 
but  nevertheless  was  the  valued  home  of  his  family.  He 
married  Isobel,  daughter  of  John  Cockburn,  whose  father 
was  of  Newholme  in  the  County  of  Peebles. 

His   great-grandson   Thomas,   whose   mother   was   also  a    General  Rig. 
Mary  Quhytelaw,  became  possessed  of  Rowchester  estate,  in  ofSasines,vol. 
the  parish  of  Greenlaw ;  he  had  also  Scarlaw,  in  Cranschaws  ^'' . ?i  I/ 
parish,    and    Bankhead   and   other    lands  in    the   parish   of  Sasines,  1770. 
Eccles,  in  the  Merse.     He  was  a  Writer  to  the  Signet  and 
Deputy-Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  of  which  his  ancestor  Sir 
Alexander  was  Keeper  in  1390.     He  married,  3d  December  Edin  cit 
1752,  Agnes,  eldest  daughter  of  John  Scott  of  Belford,  in  Re?,  of 
the   parish   of  Morebattle,    County  Roxburgh,  by   his  wife  MarriaSes- 
Marion  daughter  of  Alexander  Baillie  of  Ashesteel,  whose 
wife    Mary   was  daughter  of  Bishop   Wood  of  Edinburgh, 
temp.  Charles  II.      John  Scott's  father  Charles  second  son 
of  Sir  John  Scott,  first  Baronet  of  Ancrum,  was  a  devoted 
adherent  of  the  Stuart  cause,  and  being  "out"  in  1715,  died 
in  the  Tower  of  London.    His  wife  Margaret  was  the  daughter 
of  John  Ruthirford  of  Capehope,  Captain  in  H.M.  Guards, 
who  was  de  jure  fifth  Lord  Ruthirfurd.     Their  son,  the  above- 
named  John  Scott,  was  true  to  the  loyal  instincts  of  his  race, 
and  met  Prince  Charles  Edward  at  Kelso  in  1745,  bringing 
all  the  money  he  could  raise,  carried  in  saddle-bags  by  himself 
and  his  servant.     Many  a  hunted  Jacobite  found  refuge  in  a 
hiding-place  in  the  old  house  of  Belford,  and  much  as  they 


74 


London 
Gazette,  date 

1757- 

Scots  Maga- 
zine, A.D. 
I7S7,  P-  220- 


Edin.  Reg.  of 
Marriages. 


had  suffered  for  the  Stuarts,  he  and  his  in  after  years  never 
raised  their  wine-glass  to  their  lips  without  passing  their  hand 
across  it  in  token  that  they  drank  to  the  health  of  "  their 
King  over  the  water."  Margaret  Ruthirfurd's  brother,  Alex- 
ander, Lord  Ruthirfurd,  was  thus  styled  in  the  Gazette  of 
i6th  April  1757,  in  which  his  promotion  to  a  company  in  the 
Royal  Regiment  of  Horse  Guards  was  notified.  On  his 
death  unmarried  the  representation  of  the  family  of  the 
Ruthirfurds  of  Capehope,  and  the  Lords  Ruthirfurd,  fell  to 
John,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Cockburn  of  Rowchester, 
through  his  mother,  Agnes  Scott.  This  John  Cockburn  of  Row- 
chester  married  Jane  Ross,  heiress  of  Shandvvick,  County  Ross, 
representative  of  the  ancient  Earls  of  Ross.  He  assumed  the 
additional  surname  of  Ross,  and,  going  to  reside  on  his  wife's 
estate  in  Ross-shire  [of  which  county,  as  well  as  of  Berwick- 
shire, he  was  a  deputy-lieutenant],  he  sold  Rowchester  and  his 
other  lands  in  the  latter  county,  and  the  name  of  Cockburn 
ceased  to  appear  on  the  roll  of  its  landholders  after  having  been 
so  prominent  for  seven  hundred  years.  It  still,  however,  con- 
tinued to  be  represented  there  by  his  nephew,  John  Cockburn- 
Hood  of  Stoneridge,  a  Magistrate  and  Deputy-Lieutenant  for 
the  shire,  who  also  paternally  descended  from  the  family  of 
Selburnrigg.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Thomas  Cockburn  of 
Rowchester  and  Agnes  Scott.  His  estate  in  the  Merse  is 
held  by  his  son,  General  John  Cockburn-Hood,  C.B. 

Sir  Alexander  Cockburn-Campbell,  Baronet,  another  grand- 
son of  the  same  Thomas  and  Agnes,  inheriting  under  special 
limitation,  a  Campbell  baronetcy,  assumed  that  additional 
surname.  His  son,  Sir  Thomas  Cockburn-Campbell,  fourth 
Baronet,  is  the  present  representative  in  the  male  line  of  James 
Cockburn,  first  of  Selburnrigg.  Sir  Stafford  H.  Northcote, 
Baronet,  of  Pynes,  created  Earl  of  Iddesleigh,  was  the  grand- 
son of  Thomas,  second  son  of  the  above-named  Thomas  of 
Rowchester  and  Agnes  Scott,  who  married  Henrietta  Cole- 
brooke.  They  had  besides  Agnes  Cockburn,  Lord  Iddes- 
leigh's  mother,  a  son  Thomas,  who  died  unmarried.  Thomas 
Cockburn  of  Rowchester  died  in  1796,  aged  seventy-three. 
His  father's  tombstone  at  Langton  bore  the  following  in- 
scription : — 

"Hie  Jacet  quicquid  mortale  Davidis  Cockburn  unicus 
filius  legittimus  Thomae  Cockburn  qui  fuit  filius  legittimus 
natu  maximus  Jacobi  Cockburn  de  Selburnrigg,  vir  erat 


75 

fortis  pius,  honestus  in  negotiis  assiduus,  verus,  obiit  tertio 
die  mensis  Junij  anno  salutis  1763,  ad  annum  septuagesimum 
sextum  vitae  perutilis. 

The   following   is   a   copy   of    the   Rowchester   arms,   as 
matriculated  i3th  August  1779  : — 

Thomas  Cockburn  of  Rowchester  Esquire,  Writer  to  His  Lyon  Office 
Majesty's  Signet,  His  Majesty's  own  Writer  for  Scotland  RtS"''r. 
and  the  Isles  thereof,  and  Deputy-Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  of 
Scotland,  descended  from  the  family  of  Langtoun  the  chief  of 
that  antient  sirname  by  that  branch  thereof  sometime  designed 
of  Selburnrigg  bears  quarterly,  first  and  fourth  argent  a  pen 
in  pale  surmounted  of  an  imperial  crown  both  proper  for  the 
office  of  King's  Writer  between  two  cocks  in  chief  gules,  his 
paternal  figures,  and  a  lion's  head  erased  in  base  of  the  last 
langued  azure  on  account  of  his  marriage  with  Agnes  Scott, 
daughter  of  John  Scott,  Esquire  grandson  of  Sir  John  Scot  of 
Ancrum  Baronet  second  and  third  gules  six  mascles,  three, 
two,  and  one,  or  for  Weapont  crest  a  cock  proper.  Motto, 
Vigilans  et  audax. 

VI.  THOMAS,  sixth  son,  was  named  in  his  father's  will  Commis.  of 
his  executor.  He  married  Elizabeth  his  kinswoman,  Edin.  Test., 
daughter  of  William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk,  and  widow  of  v° '  X1' 
William  Chirnside  of  East  Nesbit.  The  will  of  umquhile  ane 
honorabill  Ladye  Elizabeth  Cockburn  Ladye  of  East  Nesbit, 
sumtyme  spous  to  Thomas  Cockburn  quha  deceisit  vpoun 
the  xxiij.  day  of  August  in  the  zeir  of  God  Im  V°  Ixxxij.  yeris, 
was  recorded  22d  Novr  of  that  year.  She  left  Thomas 
intromittour  with  her  haill  gudis,  geir,  cornes,  and  plenising, 
and  thair  fore  nocht  onlie  to  pay  the  dettis  of  the  barnis 
extending  to  twelf  hundreth  merkis  bot  alsua  all  vther  dettis 
and  scho  willis  the  foresaid  soum  of  twelf  hundreth  merkis 
pertening  to  the  barnis  to  be  payit  to  the  laird,  her  eldest 
son,  of  the  reddiest  gudis  before  ony  thing  be  removit  of  the 
grand,  and  levis  to  the  laird  her  sone  twa  of  the  best 
furneist  beddis  in  the  place,  with  sex  buird  clathis,  sex  dozine 
servattis,  and  fouer  towellis.  The  Chirnsides  of  East  Nesbit 
were  cadets  of  the  family  of  Chirnside  of  Chirnside  whose 
representative  was  one  of  the  guardians  of  Sir  James  Cockburn 
of  Langton,  appointed  by  his  father  Alexander  killed  at 

O 


76 


Egerton 
Charters  in 
British 
Museum, 
No.  364. 


Reg.  of  Dads, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  xliv., 
fol.  119. 


Ibid.,  vol.  xiii., 
foL  173- 


Flodden.  William  Chirnside,  who  married  Elizabeth  Cock- 
burn  was  probably  grandson  of  the  Alexander  named  in  the 
following  precept  given  in  regal  style  by  Patrick  first  Earl  of 
Bothwell.  "  Patricius  comes  de  Bothuil  Dominu  Halis,  &c. 
Delectis  nostris  Thome  Hume  de  Langschaw,  Alexandro 
Chyrnside  de  Est  Nesbyt  et  Georgio  Ellem  de  Buttirdene,  et 
eorum  alteri,  Ballivis  nostris  in  hac  parte  specialiter  constitutis 
salutem — Quia  dedimus  et  concessimus  hereditarie  dilec- 
tissimo  avunculo  nostro  Patricio  Hume  de  Fast  Castel 
omnes  et  singulas  duas  terrarum  husband,  nostras  cum 
pertinen.  jacentes  in  villa  et  territorio  de  Colbrandis-peth 
.  apud  Edinburgh  sexto  die  mensis  Januarii  anno 
Domini  millesimo  quadragintesimo  nonogesimo  primo." 
[Earl  Patrick's  seal  bore  on  a  shield  couche,  first  and  fourth  a 
bend  [for  Vaux  of  Dirleton],  second  and  third  a  chevron 
with  two  lions  regarding  each  other  for  Hepburn.  Crest  on 
a  helmet  a  cameleopard's  head,  supporters  two  lions.  It  is 
reasonable  to  give  here  the  coat  of  the  chief  of  this  family 
with  whom  the  Cockburns  were  so  intimately  allied  genera- 
tion after  generation.] 

VII.  JOHN,  of  whom  we  know  only  that,  "bodinin  feirof 
wer  "  he  disturbed  his  neighbours  along  with  his  brothers,  and 
that  Mark  Swyntoune  of  Luskar  agreed  2oth  January  1592 
to  infeft  "John,  lawful  son  to  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Langton, 
knight  in  the  lands  of  Stanyflatt,  on  payment  of  600  merks." 

Sir  James  Cockburn  married  secondly  his  cousin 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of 
Skirling.  In  1554  infeftment  was  given  to  her  for 
her  life  of  Stobbiswoode  and  Selfburnrigg  and  the 
mill  thereof,  she  binding  herself  in  case  of  the 
decease  of  her  said  husband  James,  and  the  marry- 
ing another  husband,  to  renounce  the  equal  just  half 
of  said  lands  to  the  bairns  of  the  said  James  and 
Margaret  gotten  betwixt  them.  The  contract  was 
agreed  to  by  William  now  heir-apparent  of  Langton, 
who  promised  "  that  he  shall  in  nowise  marry  during 


77 

his  father's  lifetime  without  his  consent,  and  at  the 
sight  and  judgment  of  [Margaret's  brother]  James 
Cockburn  of  Scraling,  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 
and  Patrick  of  Clerkington  ;  and  in  the  event  of  the 
said  William  acting  contrary  to  this,  it  being  leisome 
to  the  said  James  to  dispone  all  and  sundry  the  fore- 
said  teind  sheaves  of  the  barony  of  Langton  and  the 
lands  of  Simprim  and  all  other  tacks  and  steidings 
which  he  presently  has,  to  any  person  he  may  think 
expedient,  it  being  leisome  to  the  said  Margaret  to 
have  free  access  to  her  terce  and  third  of  the 
baronies  of  Langton  and  Carridin."  Confirmation 
was  given  to  her  infeftment  of  liferent  of  Stobbis- 
woode,  Selburnrigg,  &c.  under  the  Great  Seal  of  R's-  Great. 
James  VI.,  i5th  November  1574.  She  had  also  NO. '2331. 
the  liferent  of  East  Reston  lands.  Sir  James 
retired  to  Stobbiswoode  during  his  later  years, 
a  garrison  having  been  placed  in  Langton  Castle. 
He  had  been  too  zealous  and  uncompromising  a 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  Mary  Stuart  to  escape  the 
revenge  of  her  unnatural  brother  Murray  when  he 
became  Regent.  He  could  not  accuse  him  of  being 
an  accomplice  in  the  murder  of  Darnley,  as  he  was  Birrei's 
one  of  the  assize  who  sat  on  the  trial  of  Bothwell.  p*&y'  ote' 
So  he  was  not  declared  a  rebel  and  his  castle  blown 
up,  as  his  brother-in-law  Sir  James  of  Skirling's 
was  by  Murray's  orders.  Langton  was  much  too 
convenient  a  place  for  the  Government  to  be  thus 
ruthlessly  destroyed,  and  was,  as  already  alluded  to, 
used  as  a  residence  by  the  Regent  Morton.  By 
Margaret  Cockburn  he  had  three  sons,  Alexander,  Reg.  Deeds, 

1       A       i  -i     i  i  j  j  A  Scott.  Office, 

Robert,    and    Archibald,    and    a   daughter    Agnes  voi.  xxxvii., 
married  to  James  Craig    sheriff-clerk  of    Berwick-  foL  I73- 


Stod  art's 
Scottish  Arms, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  16. 


Edin.  Reg. 
of  Test., 
vol.  xxxiii. 


Ibid.,  vol.  xli. 


Svrintons  of 
that  Ilk, 
Appendix, 
clxxviii.  -ix. 


shire  to  whom  she  and  her  son  Alexander  gave 
an  obligation  dated  at  Langton,  nth  December 
1590. 

VIII.  ALEXANDER,  called  of  Leyiswod   and  Stob- 
biswod,  has  been  confused  with  his  half-brother  Alexander, 
heir-apparent  of  Langton  referred  to  above.     In  consequence 
of  Sir  James  having  named  his  first-born  son  by  each  wife 
Alexander,   William   the   laird  has    been   thought   to    have 
been  the  son  instead  of  the  brother  of  the  elder  Alexander, 
the  son  of  Janet  Otterburn.     The  second  son  of  same  name 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Matthew  Sinclair  of  Long- 
formacus   by   his    wife    Elizabeth,    daughter    of   Sir    John 
Swinton  of  Swinton ;  her  sister  Sybil  was  the  wife  of  William 
Cockburn  of  Choicelee.     By  her  he  had  a  daughter  Jean, 
married  to  Alexander  Dunbar   of  West  Grange,  [in    their 
marriage-contract  dated  i6th  May  1632  her  father  is  desig- 
nated Sir  Alexander  Cockburn]  and  also  two  sons,  Alexander 
and   James.     The   will   of  "Alexander,   son   lawful   to   Sir 
James  Cockburn  of  Langton,  who  died  29th  May  1597,  was 
recorded  6th  July  1599." 

He  is  therein  designated  of  Stobbiswoode.  He  appointed 
his  wife  tutrix  to  his  children,  "the  charge"  to  rest  upon 
Robert  and  Archibald  his  broth ers-german,  and  Robert  and 
James  Sinclares  his  wife's  brothers.  Elizabeth  his  widow, 
died  i  gth  May  1601.  By  her  will  Robert  Cockburn  her 
brother-in-law,  was  to  satisfy  her  son  Alexander,  "at  his 
perfect  adge,  with  his  airschip  hors."  Patrick  of  East  Borth- 
wick  tutor  of  Langton  (then  in  Stobbiswood],  and  James 
in  Selburnrigg,  her  husband's  half-brothers,  were  the  witnesses 
to  this  document. 

IX.  ROBERT,  the  second  son  by  Margaret  Cockburn, 
had  the  property  called  Blackis-milne  adjacent  to  Selburn- 
rigg in  the  barony  of  Langton,  from  his  father  Sir  James, 
and  was  trustee  under  his  brother  Alexander  of  Stobbiswood's 
will.     He  was  sheriff  in  that  part  of  the  county  when  John 
Swinton   of    Swinton  was    served    heir    before    him — aoth 
March    1628 — to   his    father.      He  had  a  son,    Robert   of 
Blackismylne,  who  left  one  daughter  Elizabeth  who  inherited 


79 

his  lands,  and  carried  them  to  her  husband  Alexander  son 
of  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee.  Robert  had  two 
other  sons,  James  and  William.  James  had  lands  in  East  County 


Reston    and    also    in    the    territory    of    Eyemouth,    dying     ^™c>  xx> 
unmarried,  William  was  served  his  heir. 

X.  GKORGK  is  only  found  mentioned  as  brother-german   Rig.  of  Dads, 
of  Robert   and   Archibald,   and  as   being   in   Blackismylne  vol^ixP^f  'l 
when  a  contract  was  entered  into  by  his  brother  Archibald,    no. 

with  his  and  Robert's  consent,  as  heir  of  tailzie  of  his  brother 
Alexander  of  Lesewod,  and  their  mother  Margaret  Cockburn 
Lady  Langton,  4th  March  1617. 

XI.  ARCHIBALD,  who  had  the  East  Reston  lands,  as  IK*. 
heir  of  tailzie  of  his  brother  Alexander  called  of  Leyiswood, 
married  Agnes  Aldincraw  ;  he  also  had  some  property  in  the 
parish  of  Eyemouth,  County  Berwick,   and  appears  at  one 
time   designated    "in   Blackismylne,"  his   brother   Robert's 
property. 

Sir  James  Cockburn  eleventh  Baron  died  in 
Edinburgh  4th  March  1578.  His  will  was  dated 
at  Stobbiswoode,  and  was  given  in  along  with  the 
inventory  of  his  property  by  his  son  Thomas 
whom  he  had  appointed  executor.  It  is  a  very 
remarkable  instance  of  the  incorrectness  of  family 
histories,  that  in  all  printed  accounts  of  the  house  of 
Langton,  as  also  in  the  MS.  genealogies  that  have 
come  under  the  author's  observations,  the  patriotic 
Sir  James  though  mentioned  in  the  pages  of  the 
history  of  his  country,  is  altogether  ignored.  The 
patriarch  of  so  many  families  one  would  have 
imagined  could  not  have  failed  to  be  noticed.  Of 
his  descendants  it  may  well  be  said  in  the  words  of 
old  Fuller,  "  gungrg  feme  0ftf  0  mafce  a  gfuffon'e  meftf 
on  f0t0  cafafogue  of  genfre,  anfc  0af0  feff  fiuf  ftfffe 
for  manners  remaining." 


8o 

XII.  WILLIAM  COCKBURN  OF  LANGTON 
married  Janet,  daughter  of  John  Home  of  Blackadder, 
by  his  wife  Beatrice,  daughter  and  co-heiress  with 
his  sister  Margaret  [married  to  John's  brother, 
Robert  Home]  of  Sir  Robert  Blackadder  of  that 
Ilk,  killed  at  Flodden,  who  had  been  named  as  one 
of  the  guardians  of  Alexander  Cockburn's  son  and 
heir  Sir  James,  William,  Laird  of  Langton's  father. 

The  doubts  regarding  the  next  William's  descent 
are  cleared  up  by  reference  to  the  "  Testament- 
dative  and  inventar  of  the  guidis,  geir,  sommes  of 
money,  and  dettis  perteining  to  umquhile  honorable 
s.  of  personnis  William  Laird  of  Langtoune  in  the 
s  vofxxi  Merse,  and  umquhile  Janet  Home,  Ladie  Lang- 
toune his  spous,  the  tyme  of  thair  deceissis,  quha 
deceisit  intestate  in  the  month  of  Februar,  the  yeir 
of  God,  Im  Vc  Ixxxij.  yeris,  maid  and  given  up  be 
Patrick  Cockburne  tutoure  of  Langtoune,  his  broder- 
germane,  in  name  and  behalf  of  Margaret  Cockburne 
onlie  lawful  bairne  to  the  defunctis  by  the  air,  &c." 
These  words  "by  the  air"  [beside  the  heir]  had 
been  totally  overlooked  by  genealogists  of  the  family, 
and  until  pointed  out  by  that  acute  and  accurate 
scholar  the  Reverend  Walter  Macleod  [whom  the 
writer  has  to  thank  for  many  elucidations  of  difficult 
problems  in  these  memoirs],  Margaret  had  been 
deemed  to  have  been  an  only  child,  and  the  Sir 
William  who  succeeded  in  1587  to  have  been  the 
piayfair's  son  of  a.  William,  son  of  Alexander,  eldest  son  and 
\o\!"i\.i,nt'g'  apparent  heir  of  Sir  James  and  Janet  Otterburn  his 
ApiP6odix>  ^rst  wife-  ^  seems  singular  that  the  contract 
between  Sir  James  and  his  second  son,  William, 
which  settles  the  question,  should  also  have  escaped 


8i 


notice.     The  contract   alluded   to,   which  is   dated 

1  8th  June  1574,  was  made  between  James  Cockburn 

of  Langton  and  Margaret  Cockburn  his  spouse,  on 

the  one  part,  and  William  Cockburn  son  lawful  to 

the  said  James,  on  the  other  part,  and  it  sets  forth  fog.  of  Deeds, 

that  the  said  James  Cockburn  of  Langton  consents  vol.  rii^ 

that  his    said    son    William    should    obtain    himself  fol>  I73' 

served  and  retoured  as  nearest  and  lawful  heir  to 

the  deceased  Alexander  Cockburn  his  brother,  of  All 

and  Whole  the  lands  and  barony  of  Langton,  with 

tower,    fortalice,    manor-place,   &c.  &c.,  and  of  All 

and  Whole  the  barony  of  Carridin,  with  pertinents 

thereof,  lying  in  the  sheriffdom  of  Linlithgow,  and 

obtain  heritable    infeftment  of  the   said   lands  and 

baronies,  with  towers,  &c.,  to  him  and  his  heirs  :  to 

be  holden  from  our  Sovereign   Lord  and  his  suc- 

cessors as  freely  as  the  same  was  holden   by    the 

deceased   Alexander  his  brother  of  before  ;  reserv- 

ing always  the  liferent  thereof  to  the  said  James  : 

And  also  the  said  James  by  this  contract  constitutes 

the    said    William    and    his    heirs-ceissoners     and 

assignees   of  the    nineteen    year   tack   of  the  teind 

sheaves  of  the   barony  of   Langton   and   lands    of 

Simprim,  with  their  pertinents,  which  he  has  of  the 

Commendator  of  the  Abbey  of  Kelso,  by  assedation 

of  date  yth  June   1565;  and  another  tack  which  he 

has  of  the  said  teind  sheaves  from  William  Lumisden 

administrator  of  said  abbey,  of  date  2Qth  April  1573  ; 

and   for  sundry  good   deeds   done  to  her  and  the 

bairns  gotten  betwixt  her  and  the  said  James  her 

spouse,  both  in  lands  and  goods,  whereby  apparently 

he  hurt  and  prejudged  the  said  William  his  son  and 

apparent  heir,  "  Margaret  Cockburn  renounced  her 

right  and  interest  in  the  said  tacks,  and  all  right  and 


82 


Familia 
Humia 
Wedder- 
burnensis, 
p.  19. 


Swintons  of 
that  nk, 
p.  44. 


Reg.  of  the 
Privy  Council, 
vol.  Hi.,  p.  48. 


title  and  interest  she  had  or  can  claim  to  the  terce 
and  third  of  the  aforesaid  lands  and  baronies  of 
Langton  and  Carridin,"  and  then  follows  the  clause 
about  William's  marriage,  and  the  infeftment  of 
Margaret  in  liferent  of  the  lands  of  Leyis,  Stobbes- 
wood,  and  Selburnrigg. 

There  has  also  been  a  doubt  about  William's  wife, 
Janet  Home,  arising  probably  from  the  statement  by 
David  Hume  of  Godscroft,  in  his  account  of  the 
house  of  Wedderburn,  that  one  of  the  daughters  of 
Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn  married  John 
Swinton  of  Swinton,  "  et  eo  defuncto  nupsit 
Guillelmum  Cokburnium,  alteram  que  Turio  Inner- 
lethio."  He  does  not  give  the  ladies'  Christian 
names.  We  know  however  from  indisputable 
deeds  that  Isobel,  daughter  of  Sir  David,  married 
William  Cockburn  "  de  eodem,"  not  of  Langton,  and 
that  Sir  John  Swinton  married  her  sister  Marion, 
"  the  prudent  damsel  whom,  under  God's  guidance,  he 
purposed  to  take  to  wife,"  having  obtained  a  dispen- 
sation from  the  Pope,  as  they  were  within  the  third  or 
fourth  degree  of  consanguinity.  Sir  John  died  in 
1549,  and  it  is  certainly  just  possible  that  she  was 
the  first  wife  of  William  Cockburn,  Laird  of  Langton, 
but  the  above  quoted  document  proves  that  she  was 
not  the  mother  of  his  two  children  ;  and  there  is  no 
mention  of  his  having  obtained  a  dispensation  to 
marry  her  niece  Janet,  which  certainly  would  have 
been  requisite,  seeing  that  his  ancestor  Sir  Patrick 
Hepburn  had  to  obtain  a  dispensation  to  marry 
the  Countess  Eleanor  Bruce,  his  first  wife  Agnes 
having  been  his  fourth  cousin. 

On  the  23d  August  1581,  Patrick,  tutor  of  Langton, 
is  found  becoming  suretie  for  Adam,  James,  John, 


83 

and  Thomas,  brethren  to  William  Cockburn,  Laird  Keg.  of  the 
of  Langtoun,  who  bodin  in  feir  of  wer,  with  steil  ^£^"48. 
bonnettis,  &c.,  to  the  nomer  of  fiftie  personis,  had 
been  disturbing  their  neighbours'  peace.  In  1585 
Peter  Denelstoune,  Vicar  of  Duns,  had  obtained 
"letters  of  horning"  against  George  Home  of 
Wedderburn,  and  William  Ker,  apparent  of  Littil- 
dene,  who  had  interfered  with  his  possession  in 
quiet  of  the  vicarage  and  parsonage  of  Duns  ;  so  on 
1 5th  April  of  that  year  William  Cockburn,  Laird  of 
Langtoune,  became  suretie  "  that  they  sail  obtemper  ibid.,  p.  737. 
the  said  lettres  according  to  the  deliverance  of  thair 
suspenciounis,  and  sail  pay  to  Peter  Denilstoune  for 
the  vicarage  and  parsonage  of  Duns  whatever  he 
sail  be  found  to  have  a  right  to  claim  at  thair  handis." 
The  above-named  William  Ker  of  Littildene  was, 
with  William  Cockburn  of  Langton,  bound  in  the  iKd.,  p.  414. 
penalty  of  .£10,000  that  George  Home  of  Wedder- 
burn shall  not  intercommune  with  the  Earl  of  Angus. 
Margaret  Cockburn,  daughter  of  this  Baron,  and 
Janet  his  wife  [who  thus  appear  to  have  died  in  the 
prime  of  life  in  the  same  month,  perishing  together 
possibly  crossing  the  flooded  Whitadder,  or  by  some 
other  fatality],  married  her  kinsman  Sir  Richard 
Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  at  one  time  Secretary  of 
State  for  Scotland,  and  afterwards  Lord  Privy  Seal. 
The  bond  thus  renewed  between  this  influential 
branch  and  the  main  stem  of  Langton  had  always 
been  a  very  close  one. 

XIII.     SIR     WILLIAM      COCKBURN     OK 
LANGTON    was    within   three   or   four   years   of 
his  majority  when  his  father  and  mother  died.     He 
had  the  following  novodamus  of  Langton — 


84 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  lib.  42, 
No.  10. 


Ibid.,  lib.  51, 
No.  22. 


Milne's 
Collect., 
p.  242. 


Charter  by  King  James  the  Sixth  to  William  Cockburn,  now  of 
Langton,  son  and  heir  of  the  deceased  William  Cockburn  of 
Langton,  and  to  his  heirs-male  whomsoever  bearing  the  surname 
and  arms  of  Cockburn,  of  the  barony  of  Langton,  with  castle, 
tower,  fortalice,  manor-place,  &c.,  together  with  the  office  of  His 
Majesty's  principal  doorkeeper,  with  two  esquires  and  two  archers, 
with  their  horses  and  servitors,  to  do  service  to  him  and  his  heirs- 
male  in  the  execution  of  the  said  office — proceeds  on  resigna- 
tion by  the  said  William  Cockburn  with  consent  of  Patrick 
Cockburn  of  East  Borthwick,  his  tutor,  in  implement  of  the 
will  and  obligation  of  his  said  deceased  father— for  this  new 
infeftment — wherein  the  King  calls  to  mind  the  faithful,  prompt, 
and  thankful  service  of  the  progenitors  of  the  said  William 
Cockburn,  younger,  on  many  occasions ;  and  understanding 
that  the  said  William  has  obtained  the  consent  of  the  present 
vicar  of  Langton,  and  also  in  consideration  of  certain  sums 
of  money  paid  to  His  Majesty  and  his  Treasurer  by  the  said 
William,  grants  to  him  the  advocation,  donation,  and  right  of 
patronage  of  the  Parish  Church  and  Parish  of  Langton,  which  of 
old  pertained  to  the  Commendator  of  Kelso :  To  hold  of  the 
Crown  in  fee  and  heritage,  with  privilege  of  free  forest,  and  with 
power  to  erect  and  create  the  town  of  Langton  into  a  free  burgh 
of  barony,  with  market  cross  and  other  usual  privileges,  rendering 
therefor  one  penny  yearly  in  name  of  blench  ferme. 

Dated  nth  November  1595. 

William,  Laird  of  Langton,  was  knighted  by  King 
James  VI.  He  had  confirmation  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  Charles  I.  of  the  charter  from  Sir  George 
Home  of  Manderston,  his  cousin,  of  the  ten  husband- 
lands  of  Symprine,  and  the  kirk  lands  thereof,  to 
himself  and  his  direct  heirs  ;  whom  failing,  they  were 
to  go  to  Sir  Richard  of  Clerkington,  his  brother-in- 
law,  and  his  heirs.  According  to  Hume  of  Gods- 
croft,  Symprin  belonged  to  Bartholomew,  eighth  son 
of  Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn,  so  there  were 
still  seven  spears  of  Wedderburn,  after  George,  the 
eldest  brother,  fell  at  Flodden.  Bartholomew,  he 
says,  "  got  the  lands  of  Borg  in  Galloway,  and  had 
also  Simpryne,  in  the  Merse." 


85 

The  liferent  of  the  barony  of  Simprin  was  settled 
by  Sir  William  upon  his  wife  Helen,  fifth  daughter 
of  the  fourth  Lord  Elphinstone,  by  his  wife  Helen, 
eldest  daughter  of  the  sixth  Lord  Livingstone. 

"  Helen,  Lady  Langtoune,"  married  afterwards  the 
Reverend  Henry  Rollok  or  Rollo,  and  was  much 
troubled  in  her  possessions  by  the  quartering  of 
soldiers  upon  her  tenants  at  Symprine  and  other 
lands  in  Langton  barony,  of  which  she  had  the  life- 
rent.  So  she  petitioned  Parliament  for  redress, 
stating  that  "  shoe  and  her  tennents  are  redacted  to  Acts  of  Pariia- 

.  .....  ment,  Scot., 

great  straits  and  extreame  povertie,  which  throw  Voi.  vi.,  Part 
quarterings  and  uther  burdings  susteined  be  them  IL>  p-  453' 
these  diverse  zieres  bygone,  bot  cheiflie  since  the 
last  unlawful  engadgement  against  Ingland  by  the 
plunderings  of  the  forcis  that  wer  upon  the  said 
ingadgment,  quhilk  not  onlie  quartered  themselffis 
upon  the  lands  perteining  to  hir  within  the  said 
paroschis,  bot  took  money  also,  horses,  mears,  and 
uthir  goods  perteining  to  hir  said  tennents,  &c." 
The  result  of  her  artful  reflection  upon  the  ill- 
conducted  expedition  of  1648,  in  the  cause  of 
Charles  I.,  was  that  the  Estates  recommended  a  large 
sum  to  be  given  to  her  in  compensation. 

Whether  after  the  Restoration  she  suffered  as  many 
did  for  her  display  of  feeling  against  the  "  Engagers," 
who  raised  the  undisciplined  army  that  went  under 
the  unfortunate  Duke  of  Hamilton  to  the  relief  of 
the  King,  and  surrendered  so  pitifully  to  Cromwell, 
does  not  appear.  She  deserved  to  do  so,  for  Dame 
Rollok,  under  the  influence  of  her  husband,  had  lost 
the  loyal  sentiment  so  strong  in  the  Cockburns,  and 
in  the  breasts  of  her  own  ancestors  the  Livingstones 
and  Elphinstones.  Her  teaching  unfortunately 


86 


Register  of 
Sasines, 
County 
Berwick, 
vol.  1 6,  fol. 
I  So. 


Edinburgh 
Medical 
Journal^ 
August  1876, 
p.  150. 


Westminster 
Abbey 
Registers, 
P-  356. 


Autobiography 
and  Corre- 
spondence of 
Mary  Gran- 
ville,  Mrs. 
Delaney, 
edited  by 
Lady  Llan- 
over,  First 
Series,  p.  209. 


appears  to  have  dulled  those  feelings  also  in  her 
son  and  heir  William,  and,  combined  with  other 
circumstances,  to  make  him  act  as  he  did.  By  her 
Sir  William  had  another  son— 

JOHN,  an  advocate  in  Edinburgh,  who  died  in  1666, 
leaving  a  son  William.  In  1667  Alexander  Don  of  Newtown 
[now  Newton-Don],  assignee  of  the  late  John  Cockburn, 
advocate,  brother-german  of  Sir  William  Cockburn,  Knight 
and  Baronet  of  Langton,  renounced  in  favour  of  Sir  Archibald 
Cockburn  of  Langton  and  Sir  Robert  Sinclair  of  Stevenson 
an  annual  rent  out  of  the  lands  of  Symprin.  His  son 
William  had  also  a  son  of  same  name,  born  1669,  who  had  a 
large  practice  as  a  medical  practitioner  in  London.  He  held 
the  appointment  of  Physician  to  the  Fleet  and  to  Greenwich 
Hospital.  Dr.  Cockburn  was  a  voluminous  writer,  and 
some  of  his  works  ran  to  several  editions.  He  was  quite  a 
prominent  person  in  London  for  many  years,  and  was  the 
intimate  friend  of  Dean  Swift.  He  died  in  November  1739, 
aged  seventy,  and  was  buried  in  the  middle  aisle  of  West- 
minster Abbey.  The  journals  of  the  day  described  him  as 
an  eminent  physician,  and  immensely  rich ;  but  Colonel 
Chesters  says  that  "he  was  estimated  very  differently  in 
social  life."  He  had  no  children,  but  was  twice  married, 
first  to  Mary  de  Branddisson,  widow,  who  died  in  1728;  and 
secondly,  isth  April  1729,  to  Lady  Mary  Fielding,  eldest 
daughter  of  Basil,  fourth  Earl  of  Denbigh.  Mary  Granville 
[Mrs.  Delaney],  who  does  not  spare  the  doctor,  calling  him 
"an  old,  very  rich  quack,"  and  describes  his  second  wife 
as  "  very  ugly,"  gives  the  following  account  of  their  court- 
ship. She  says,  "  He  went  one  morning  to  make  a  visit 
and  found  Lady  Mary  weeping.  He  asked  her  what  was 
the  matter.  She  said  her  circumstances  were  so  bad  she 
could  no  longer  live  in  town,  but  must  retire  into  the 
country.  She  was  not  anxious  to  leave  London,  but  regretted 
some  friends  she  must  leave  behind.  He  said,  "  Madam, 
may  I  hope  I  am  one  of  those."  "  Certainly,"  says  she. 
"Doctor,  you  have  always  -shown  us  a  great  kindness." 
"Then,  Madam,"  says  he,  "if  an  old  man  and  .£50,000  can 
be  acceptable  to  you,  you  may  put  off  your  long  journey 
whenever  you  please."  She  did  not  demur,  and  after  ten 


37 

days'  courtship  they  were  married.     Nobody  blames  the  lady  ; 
the  man  is  called  an  old  fool." 

The  doctor  by  his  will,  dated  4th  December  1738,  com- 
mending his  soul  to  heaven  and  his  body  to  the  earth,  gave 
directions  for  a  pompous  funeral,  in  a  manner  which  gives  the 
impression  of  his  being  an  ostentatious  person,  as  does  his 
possession  of  a  considerable  amount  of  personal  jewellery, 
which  he  bequeathed  partly  to  "  his  cousin  Helen  Cockburn, 
Lady  Allanbank,"  and  partly  to  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston. 
The  chief  part  of  his  property  he  left  to  Sir  Alexander 
Cockburn  of  Langton.  The  fact  of  his  disposing  of  his 
property  there  is  in  itself  a  strong  proof  that  his  descent 
is  given  correctly  in  the  note  from  which  the  above  notice  of 
his  grandfather  is  taken.  In  the  new  Biographical  Dictionary 
he  is  called  the  second  son  of  Sir  William  Cockburn,  Baronet 
of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  a  person  who,  as  it  will  be  shown 
hereafter,  never  existed. 


XIV.  SIR  WILLIAM  COCKBURN  OF  LANG- 
TON,  in  the  retour  to  his  father,  Sir  William, 
Knight  of  Langton,  3ist  May  1626,  is  styled  miles, 
Baronettus  having  had  the  hereditary  title  conferred 
upon  him  immediately  after  his  father's  death,  who 
perhaps  did  not  care  to  acquire  either  it  or  lands 
across  Atlantic. 

With  the  title,  Sir  William  had  [in  common  with  all 
"  Nova  Scotia  Baronets,"  as  they  came  to  be  usually 
designated]  an  estate  granted  to  him  in  that  province, 
which  might  have  proved  very  valuable.  The  grant 
comprised  eighteen  square  miles  of  the  very  finest 
part  of  it,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
bounded  by  the  River  St.  John  for  three  miles, 
erected  into  the  barony  of  "  Cockburn,"  with  most 
ample  privileges.  Infeftment  was  duly  taken 
out  as  prescribed  in  the  patent.  [This  was 
allowed  to  be  done  in  Edinburgh.]  There  certainly 


County 
x.,  306.  ' 


88 

appears  to  have  been  grounds  for  dissatisfaction 
amongst  the  recipients  of  these  grants  in  the  new 
colony.  By  the  arrangements  made  by  King  Charles 
with  the  French  Government,  the  value  of  their 
acquisitions  must  have  seemed  seriously  deteriorated, 
if  not  altogether  gone.  A  thousand  pounds  was  a 
large  sum  at  that  time,  and  the  possession  of  great 
territories  in  the  New  Scotland  could  have  been  the 
only  temptation  to  men  of  name  and  position  like 
Sir  William  Cockburn  to  pay  it.  The  novel  dignity 
of  Baronet,  to  which  time  has  given  value,  did  not 
present  much  attraction  to  an  old  .hereditary  Baron 
of  Scotland. 

In  July  1630  the  King  wrote  to  the  Privy  Council 
of  Scotland  to  the  effect  that  there  was  a  controversy 
between  him  and  the  French  "  concerning  the  title 
of  lands  in  America,  and  particularly  of  New  Scot- 
land, it  being  alleged  that  Port  Royal,  where  the 
Scottish  Colony  is  planted,  should  be  restored,  as 
taken  since  the  making  of  the  peace,"  and  asking 
the  Council  to  consider  the  matter.  On  the  loth 
July  1631,  the  King  writes  to  Sir  William  Alexander 
that  "  there  is  a  final  agreement  betwixt  us  and  our 
(rood  brother  the  French  King,  by  which  we  have 
condescended  that  Port  Royal  shall  be  put  in  the 
estate  it  was  before  the  beginning  of  the  war,"  and 
therefore  granting  warrant  to  Sir  William  to  give 
orders  to  Sir  George  Home,  Knight,  to  demolish 
the  fort  which  was  built  by  the  son  of  Sir  William 
Alexander,  and  to  remove  all  the  people,  goods, 
ordnance,  &c.,  leaving  the  bounds  altogether  waste 
and  unpeopled,  as  it  was  at  the  time  your  son  landed 
first  to  plant  there  by  virtue  of  our  commission." 
Again,  on  I4th  June  1632,  His  Majesty  writes  to 
the  Lord  Advocate,  rehearsing  the  preceding 


§9 

warrant,  and  in  case  his  loving  subjects  should  mis- 
understand the  meaning  of  the  transaction,  orders 
the  Advocate  to  draw  up  a  warrant  to  pass  the  Great 
Seal,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  not  His  Majesty's 
intention  to  give  up  the  title  to  the  said  bounds, 
although  they  were  now  to  be  abandoned  by  the 
colonists,  which  warrant  was  given  to  the  Sir 
William  Alexander,  created  Viscount  Stirling  [to 
whom  was  granted  in  1628  the  Lordship  of  Canada], 
for  the  encouragement  of  him  or  such  others  as 
might  "hereafter"  wish  to  go  on  with  these  planta- 
tions. It  must  be  confessed  that  the  King's 
diplomacy  seems  very  peculiar,  and  few  would  be 
encouraged  by  his  promise  to  proceed  to  establish 
themselves  upon  their  territories  in  Nova  Scotia, 
now  under  the  French  flag.  However,  the  ^1000 
premium  continued  to  be  paid  into  His  Majesty's 
treasury,  by  aspirants  to  the  possession  of  a  heredi- 
tary dignity,  whose  position  at  the  time  was  not  an 
important  one.  Their  representatives  to-day  may 
deem  that  their  ancestors  received  a  sufficient  quid 
pro  quo.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  sovereign's 
dubious  conduct  rankled  in  the  minds  of  some, 
and  amongst  them  in  Sir  William  Cockburn's,  who 
is  found  afterwards  on  the  parliamentary  side, 
and  was  appointed  one  of  their  committee,  i6th  Rescinded 
November  1641.  Smarting  under  the  chagrin  for  Parliament. 
this  disappointment,  it  is  probable  that  the  circum- 
stance which  took  place  in  Parliament  in  that  year 
finally  influenced  him  in  his  subsequent  action — a 
dispute  having  occurred  about  the  office  of  usher,  he 
carried  himself  in  such  a  manner  in  the  house  in  the 
presence  of  the  King,  that  Charles  ordered  him  into 
custody.  The  notice  of  the  affair  runs  as  follows  : —  ^ts,°/ 

.  -  Parliament, 

"  ioth  September  1641,  iSth  day  of  this  Session  of  vol.  v., p. 351. 


90 

Parliament,  prayer  said,  and  rolles  callet. — Rege 
present! — Protestatione  be  the  Laird  of  Langtoun 
anent  the  place  of  wsharie.  The  supplicatione  pre- 
sented be  the  Laird  of  Langtoune  conserning  his 
ansueres  anent  the  wscherie  to  the  petitione  exhibit 
to  the  Erie  of  Lanark,  in  name  of  James  Maxwell, 
being  red,  appoyntis  ane  double  thereof  to  be  given 
to  the  Erie  of  Lanarke,  and  ane  vther  to  the  Erie  of 
Wigtoun,  that  they  may  be  advysed  therewith  ;  and 
the  said  Sir  Williame  Cockburne  of  Langton  askit 
instrumentis  that  he  was  debarrit  violentlie  from  the 
possession  of  his  place  of  wscherie,  and  protestit  that 
the  samem  my'  not  be  prejudiciall  to  his  right  of  the 
said  place  and  office." 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  duties  of  the  office 
had  not  been  very  assiduously  performed,  otherwise 
it  is  scarcely  likely  that  an  encroachment  upon  the 
rights  of  the  Baron  of  Langton  would  have  been 
made,  by  giving  temporary  holding  to  James 
Maxwell  of  Innerwick,  William  Maxwell  of  Kirk- 
house,  and  Robert  Cunningham. 

Sir  William  got  confirmation  of  the  ancient  grants 
of  the  office  afterwards  from  the  Government,  with 
all  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  his  predecessors  since 
1370  to  the  date  of  confirmation,  2d  January  1647, 
to  himself  and  his  heirs  for  ever.  Although  he 
had  displayed  so  much  irritation,  and  conducted 
himself  in  so  very  unseemly  a  manner,  as  to  cause 
the  King  to  sign  a  warrant  then  and  there  for 
his  being  committed  as  a  prisoner  to  Edinburgh 
Castle  [which,  however,  at  the  intercession  of  the 
House  was  not  carried  into  effect],  Sir  William  did 
not  in  reality  attach  much  importance  to  the  office  so 
long  held  by  his  ancestors,  except  in  so  far  that  it 


had  a  marketable  value,  for  he  alienated  the  moiety 
of  it  to  Colonel  Robert  Cunninghame,  brother  of  the 
Earl  of  Glencairn,  and  became  joint  Usher  with  him. 
One  result  of  the  scene  in  the  Parliament-House  was 
to  secure  the  members  from  arrest  during  the  time 
of  session,  Charles  the  First  having  on  the  following 
day  guaranteed  this  privilege  for  himself  and  his 
successors  in  all  time  coming. 

He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Archi- 
bald Acheson  or  Aitcheson  of  Gosford  and  Glen- 
carnie,  who  had  also  been  created  a  Baronet  of 
Nova  Scotia  in  1627,  being  Solicitor-General  and 
Secretary  of  State  for  Scotland,  which  offices  he 
held  until  his  death  in  1634.  Large  estates  were 
granted  to  him  in  Ireland,  and  descended  to  Sir 
Archibald  Acheson,  raised  to  the  peerage  by  the 
title  of  Lord  Gosford,  in  1776.  The  property  of 
Gosford  belonged  in  1560  to  Marion  Cockburn, 
widow  of  Alexander  Sinclair  of  Gosford,  or  as  then  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
written  Guisefoord  [i.e.,  the  place  where  the  geese  Vo£  i'x., 
passed  to  their  feeding  grounds].  She  made  over  fol- 78> 
the  third  part  of  it  to  Alexander  Aitchison  and 
Helen  Ryd,  his  spouse,  who  had,  besides  the  above- 
mentioned  Archibald,  a  daughter  Margaret,  married 
to  Robert  Scott,  eldest  son  and  heir-apparent  of 
Robert  Scott  of  Scotstarvit.  Sir  William  Cockburn 
died  in  1656,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  only  son 
Archibald,  who,  according  to  one  writer,  "  was  dis- 
tinguished like  his  father  for  piety."  The  first 
Baronet  of  Langton's  piety  was  displayed  in  a 
peculiar  manner  when  he  associated  himself  with  the 
rebels  who  put  their  sovereign  to  death.  We  must 
trust  that  he  was  influenced  by  no  revengeful 
feelings,  but  deemed  with  many  of  the  other  leaders 

Q 


of  that  party  that  there  was  danger  to  his  country 
from  Charles'  too  implicit  faith  in  the  Stuart  creed  of 
the  divine  right  and  power  of  kings. 

Sir  William  had  by  his  wife  Margaret  Aitchison, 
besides  this  son  Archibald,  a  daughter  Margaret, 
married  as  second  wife  to  Sir  Alexander  Gilmour, 
Baronet  of  Craigmillar,  whose  sister  Margaret  was 
the  wife  of  Andrew  Wauchope  of  Niddrie.  The 
Gilmours  were  related  to  the  Cockburns  by  various 
marriages.  The  above  Sir  Alexander  and  Margaret 
were  the  children  of  Sir  John  Gilmour  of  Craigmillar, 
Lord  President  of  the  Court  of  Session  [who  acquired 
that  estate  in  1661],  by  his  third  wife  Margaret 
Murray,  daughter  of  Sir  Alexander  Murray,  second 
Baronet  of  Black  Barony,  by  his  wife  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkington, 
Secretary  of  State  for  Scotland. 

From  Sir  Charles  Gilmour,  the  son  of  the  above 
Sir  Alexander,  and  his  wife  Jean,  daughter  of  Sir 
Robert  Sinclair,  Baronet  of  Longformacus,  descended 
the  late  popular  proprietor  of  Craigmillar,  Walter 
James  Little-Gilmour,  who  was  one  of  the  knights 
at  the  Eglinton  tournament,  and  died  in  1887,  in  the 
eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  The  Sinclairs  of  Long- 
formacus were  much  allied  with  the  Cockburns  also. 
The  above-mentioned  Jean  Sinclair's  mother,  Jean, 
was  the  daughter  of  Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 
Lord  Justice-Clerk.  Margaret  Cockburn,  Sir  Alex- 
ander Gilmour's  widow,  had  sasine  of  the  liferent  of 
the  lands  of  Craigmillar. 


XVl     SlR     ARCHIBALD    COCKBURN    OF 
NO. '127!         LANGTON,  second  Baronet,  had  a  charter  from 
King  Charles  II.,  Domino  Archibaldo  Cockburn  de 


93 

Langton,  militi,  Baronetto,  terrarum  et  baroniae  de 
Langtoun,  loth  May  1682.  He  has  been  regarded 
as  the  reckless  waster  of  his  ancestral  estates,  whereas 
he  was  probably  in  reality  an  able  and  enterprising 
man,  but  like  his  kinsman  John  of  Ormiston,  fifty 
years  afterwards,  was  in  advance  of  his  age,  and 
attempted  improvements,  badly  carried  out  in  all 
likelihood  by  agents  wedded  to  old  customs,  and  the 
prospective  value  of  which  was  utterly  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  his  contemporaries. 

The  results  of  his  enterprises  were  indeed  most 
disastrous,  and  he  left  to  his  successors  obligations 
which  led  to  the  sale  of  the  ancient  heritage,  and 
wrecked  the  fortunes  of  many  of  his  name  and 
family.  His  life  was  one.  of  perpetual  struggle 
against  the  difficulties  that  crushed  him ;  but  he 
struggled,  it  must  be  admitted,  with  much  courage 
and  determination,  having  a  thorough  faith  in  his 
schemes.  He  was  much  pressed  in  1690,  so  much 
so  that  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed  in  that  year 
giving  him  protection  from  his  creditors  for  three 
years  until  Whitsunday  1693.  His  attempts  to 
recover  his  position  were,  however,  without  avail  ; 
for  we  find  that  on  the  iyth  of  July  1695  a  petition 
was  given  in  and  presented  to  His  Majesty's  Com- 
mission and  the  Estates  of  Parliament  setting  forth 
that  "the  said  Sir  Archibald  coming  to  faill  about  Act$ofpari. 
the  year  one  thousand  sixteen  hundred  and  nynty,  it  p.  479. 
pleased  the  Lords  of  Session  to  give  a  summand 
warrant,  at  the  desire  of  some  of  his  creditors,  to  one 
of  their  own  number  to  convene  the  auditors,  and  to 
appoynt  a  factor  for  applying  the  rents  of  the  estates. 
.  .  .  That  they  would  have  set  the  estate  to  any 
person  that  would  have  taken  the  same,  and  found 


94 

caution  for  the  sum  of  20,000  merks  yearly.  The 
said  Sir  Archibald  offered  30,000  merks  if  they  wold 
intrust  him  upon  his  word  and  promise,  which  was 
accordingly  accepted,  .  .  .  and  that  he  also  did 
fully  perform,  &c."  It  appears  that  the  Estates  of 
Parliament  having  considered  the  petition,  the  nature 
of  his  extensive,  and,  to  the  members  of  the  Commit- 
tee, perhaps  incomprehensible  works  on  his  estates, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  could  not  be  managed 
to  better  advantage  than  under  his  own  active  ad- 
ministration, so  his  petition  was  ordered  to  lie  on  the 
table  of  the  House,  and  protection  was  again  granted 
to  him.  But  he  struggled  on  unsuccessfully,  and  his 
creditors  became  more  importunate,  and  had  actually 
seized  upon  him  and  placed  him  in  the  Tolbooth 
prison  in  Edinburgh,  from  which  he  escaped,  when 
the  mob  broke  into  it,  on  2Oth  June  1700.  He 
possessed  large  estates,  and  had  he  lived  in  later 
days  would  have  been  celebrated  no  doubt  as  a 
successful  gentleman  farmer.  "  Cockburn's  Barns,  at 
Simprim  (the  whole  parish  of  which  belonged  to 
him),  remain  a  landmark  for  many  miles  around, 
and  are  evidence  of  his  enterprising  but  too  adven- 
turous schemes  ;  it  would  have  been  well  had  he  been 
able  to  fill  them.  Amongst  other  new  methods  of 
farming,  he  introduced  the  purchasing  of  highland 
cattle  for  the  purpose  of  fattening,  and  entered  into 
a  contract  with  John  Campbell  of  Genorchy,  after- 
wards Lord  Breadalbane,  who  engaged  to  supply 
him  with  five  hundred  "  highland  cowes  yeirly  for  the 
space  of  thrie  years,  the  price  for  ilk  cowe  to  be 
twenty  merks  Scots."  He  married  first  Marion, 
daughter  of  John  Sinclair,  eldest  son  of  Sir  Robert 
Sinclair  of  Stevenson,  Baronet,  by  his  wife  Isobel, 


95 

daughter  of  Robert,  sixth  Lord  Boyd,  and  by  her,  Part.  Ktg. 
with  a  daughter  Helen  [married  to  Sir  Robert 
Stewart,  Baronet  of  Allanbank,  County  Berwick,  who 
had  a  settlement  of  .£1200  yearly  for  her  life  out 
of  Allanbank,  dated  3oth  December  1704],  three 
sons  — 

I.  Archibald,  apparent  of  Langton. 
1  1.  Alexander,  who  succeeded  as  fourth  Baronet. 
III.  James,  who  settled  in  Jamaica,  and  was  the 

progenitor  of  the  family  established  there. 
IV.  William,  baptised  2ist  February  1660.  Edinburgh 

Reg.  of 

ARCHIBALD   COCKBURN,    eldest   son,   commonly  Baftlsms- 
styled    in   Acts    of   Parliament    and    deeds    "  Younger    of 
Langton,"  was  an  advocate  at  the  Scotch  bar.     He  married 
in  1684  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir   George   Mackenzie   of 
Rosehaugh,  the  Lord  Advocate,  and  had,  besides   George 
Margaret  and  Elizabeth  who   died   unmarried,    Anne,  who 
married    Sir    George   Stewart,   Baronet    of    Grantully,   and 
Archibald,  baptised    i6th   November  1687,  who  succeeded 
as  third   Baronet.     It   is   stated    erroneously  in  Anderson's 
"  Scottish  Nation  "  and  other  genealogies  that  he  died  without 
issue,  and  was  created  a  Baronet  in  his  father's  lifetime.     Of 
this  there  is  no  evidence.     Certainly  in  the  register  of  the 
baptism  of  two  of  the  children  he  is  called  Sir  Archibald,  but 
this  was  merely  as  the  supposed  right  of  a  Baronet's  eldest 
son.     In  his  will,  dated  8th  December,  he  is  designated  Mr. 
Archibald  Cockburn,   younger  of  Langton.     He   died    2zd 
August   1702,  having  been  much   troubled  by  his   father's   Part.  Keg.  of 
creditors,  and  had  to  get  the  protection  of  Parliament  as  well   s"stnes' 
as  his  brother  Alexander.     He  spent  some  time  abroad  in   Edinburgh, 
consequence.    His  resignation  of  an  annuity  out  of  the  lands   vo1-  xxxi.,  fol- 
of  Newbyth,  of  which  he  had  sasine  from  Sir  John  Baird  of  xxxii.,™!.  216. 
Newbyth,  was  dated  at  Paris  in  1681.     Elizabeth,  his  widow,   Douglas' 
married  Sir  James  Mackenzie  (third  son  of  the  first  Earl  of  Pe""a8e> 
Cromartie),  who  sat  on  the  bench  as  Lord  Royston.     In  1701, 


with  his  father's  sanction,  he  gave  sasine  to  Ninian  Home  of 

Billie  of  some  of  the  family  property  in  Duns,  in  considera-  ck  vo] 

tion  of  his  being  his  surety  for  .£10,953.  *-,  fol.  442. 


96 

JAMES  COCKBURN,  M.D.,  the  third  son,  settled,  as 
above  mentioned,  in  Jamaica.  Upon  his  tombstone,  in  the 
churchyard  of  the  parish  of  St.  Mary's  there,  are  engraved 
the  arms  of  the  house  of  Langton,  with  an  inscription,  "To  the 
memory  of  Doctor  James  Cockburn,  who  died  1718.  and  of 
Sarah,  his  wife ;  also  of  Prudence,  late  wife  of  Doctor  Thomas 
Cockburn,  his  son.  She  died  aged  thirty-one,  with  her  only 
child,  August  1738." 

This  Dr.  Thomas  Cockburn  married  secondly  Rachel 
Martin,  and  had  three  sons ;  two  died  youug.  The  eldest, 
James,  was  also  in  the  medical  profession.  He  was  born 
1771,  and  died  1798,  having  by  his  wife,  Sarah  Stratford, 
daughter  of  Charles  Seymour  of  Charlemont,  Jamaica,  a  son, 
Charles  Seymour  Cockburn,  who  got  that  place.  He  was 
born  in  1771,  and  died  1821,  having  married  Isabella, 
daughter  of  William  Turner,  of  the  parish  of  St.  Mary's, 
Jamaica,  and  had  a  son,  George  Alexander  Cockburn  of 
Charlemont,  born  1829,  heir  presumptive  to  the  baronetcy  of 
Langton,  whose  only  son  died  in  Australia  unmarried ;  and 
three  daughters,  Frances  Elphinstone  Howard,  married 
Robert  C.  Carr,  Marian  and  Sarah  Stratford.  Thomas 
Cockburn  [third  son  of  Dr.  James,  the  son  of  Dr. 
Thomas,  and  thus  great-grandson  of  Sir  Archibald  of 
Langton]  married  Mary  Aylward,  and  with  two  sons, 
Thomas  and  James,  who  both  died  unmarried,  had  three 
daughters — Sarah,  married  to  Admiral  C.  Ross,  R.N. ; 
Frances,  married  to  James  Sims,  and  had  a  daughter,  Frances 
Cockburn  Sims,  married  in  1837  to  George  Arthur  Annesly, 
Viscount  Valentia  ;  and  Mary,  who  married  her  kinsman  the 
Right  Honourable  Admiral  Sir  George  Cockburn,  G.C.B., 
eighth  Baronet  of  Langton.  Dr.  James  Cockburn  had,  besides 
the  above-named  son  Dr.  Thomas,  two  daughters,  Frances, 
who  married  her  cousin  William  Cockburn  of  Ayton,  and 
was  mother  of  Alexander,  the  sixth,  but  not  recorded,  Baronet, 
and  of  James,  the  seventh  Baronet;  and  Sarah,  married  to 
George  Turnbull  of  Houndwood,  County  Berwick,  who 
had  an  only  child,  Sarah,  married  to  John  Vaich  or  Veitch, 
M.D.,  and  had  likewise  an  only  child,  married  to  Dr. 
Dunbar,  and  had  also  an  only  child,  Sarah,  married  to 
Captain  Coulson,  R.N.  This  lady  proprietrix  of  Houndwood 
died  in  1885,  at  a  very  advanced  age,  leaving  issue. 


97 

Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  repurchased  from  Colonel 
Cunningham  in  1674  the  moiety  of  the  office  of 
Heritable  Usher,  alienated  from  his  father,  and  had 
a  new  grant  thereof,  with  a  salary  of  ^250  per 
annum,  and  other  emoluments  to  him  and  his  heirs 
for  ever,  with  a  novodatmis  of  Langton  Barony  and 
the  Kirk  of  Langton.  He  married  secondly  Anna, 
daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Stewart,  Baronet  of  Colt- 
ness,  by  his  second  wife,  Marion  M'Culloch,  "  a 
greave  matron,  and  a  widdow  of  middle  age,  a 
woman  of  approved  virtue  and  piety ;  she  was  the 
daughter  of  David  M'Culloch,  W.S.,  and  had  been 
married  before  to  John,  younger  son  of  Gilbert 
Eliott  of  Stobes  [Gibbie  wi  the  gouden  gartins],  by 
whom  she  had  an  only  child,  Margaret  Eliott.  By 
her  Sir  Thomas  Stewart  had  a  daughter,  Anna,  who  Sir  Archibald 
married  Archibald  Cockburn  in  1689,  and  had  three  han^BarTof 
sons,  who  predeceased  her  ;  the  youngest  was  choked  c^'JJf  s>page 
with  a  dice.  Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  after  Anna's  63. 
death  for  the  most  part  was  in  Edinburgh  prison  or 
the  Abbey  Sanctuary,  and  was  buried  from  Holy- 
rood-house  in  his  own  burial-place  in  Langton 
Church,  and  in  his  second  wife's  grave,  the  rubbans 

.  .  .  and  I  saw  them  when  we  buried  Sir 
Archibald. 

"  Mr.  Gavin,  who  acquired  great  welth  in  Middle- 
burg  in  Zealand  by  head  and  marriage,  but  of  low 
birth  and  obscure,  purchased  Langton  in  1757  at 
60,000  lib.,  and  Lord  Elibank  gave  12,000  lib.  for 
Symprine  barrony,  another  part  of  Sir  Archibald's 
estate.  The  heritable  ushership,  Mr.  Coutts  at 
London  gave  600  Ib.  for  it." 

Sir  Archibald  Stewart  was  mistaken  in  saying  that 
the  three  sons  of  Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  and  Anna 


Particular 
Register  of 
Sasines, 
County  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  Ixi. 
fol.  306. 


General  Rig. 
of  Sasines. 


Playfair's 
British  An- 
tiquities, vol. 
via.,  Appen- 
dix, p.  clx. 


Stewart  all  died  before  their  mother.  On  the  I3th 
July  1 700  sasine  was  given  on  precept  from  Chancery 
to  the  sons  of  Sir  Thomas  Stewart  of  Coltness,  now  of 
Kirkfield,  and  Margaret  Eliott,  his  first  spouse,  and 
also  in  favour  of  William  Cockburn,  lawful  son  of 
"  Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  of  Langton,  and  the 
deceased  Lady  Anna  Stewart,  his  second  spouse, 
which  Anna  Stewart  was  lawful  daughter  procreat 
betwixt  Sir  Thomas  Stewart  and  Margaret  Elliot, 
the  said  William  Cockburn  being  also  served  heir  of 
provision  to  the  said  Margaret  Elliot,  his  grand- 
mother, of  the  lands  of  Goodtrees,  alias  Guthers, 
with  the  lands  of  Gilmertoune,  in  the  parish  of 
Liberton,  in  warrandice  thereof."  John  Eliott  was 
styled  of  Goodtrees  or  Godestree/wrtf  ^lxor^s.  Wil- 
liam Cockburn  was  previously  retoured  heir  of 
•'  David  M'Culloch  of  Goodtrees,  his  great-grand- 
father on  his  mother's  side."  He  died  unmarried. 
His  father,  the  unfortunate  Sir  Archibald  who  sat 
as  member  for  Berwickshire  in  the  Convention  Par- 
liament, died  22d  June  1705.  It  is  singular  that 
even  at  this  modern  date  so  great  a  mistake  should 
have  been  made  as  giving  him  for  wife  Lady  Mary 
Campbell,  who  married  his  grandson  Archibald, 
younger  of  Langton. 

XVI.  SIR  ARCHIBALD  COCKBURN  OF 
LANGTON,  third  Baronet,  succeeded  his  grand- 
father, dying  unmarried  shortly  after,  the  title  and 
estates  reverted  to  his  uncle — 


XVII.    SIR  ALEXANDER  COCKBURN  or 
LANGTON,    fourth    Baronet,    who   was    retoured 


99 

heir  to  his  father,  Sir  Archibald,  nth  February  1711. 
He  was  in  the  army  in  his  younger  days.  "  Captain 
Alexander,  son  of  Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  of  Lang- 
ton,"  had  the  protection  of  Parliament  granted  to 
him  against  his  father's  creditors  2ist  May  1703. 
In  1687  his  brother  Archibald  had  given,  with  his 
father,  a  bond  for  a  considerable  sum  to  the  Dowager 
Lady  Nairn.  In  1695  Captain  Alexander,  then 
serving  with  his  regiment,  gave  corroboration  of  the 
bond,  which  in  the  following  year  he  managed  to 
pay  for  his  father ;  but  in  August  of  same  year  Lady 
Nairn  generously  gave  him  back  the  money,  seeing 
him  so  troubled  by  pecuniary  difficulties  which  he 
had  no  share  in  creating.  He  married  not  long 
after  Mary,  daughter  of  William  Ancrum  of  Duns, 
who  possessed  a  fair  fortune.  He  had  seisin  of  General  Reg. 
Grueldykes,  in  the  parish  of  Duns,  originally  belong-  vol.  cixxiv., 
ing  to  Langton,  on  disposition  from  Andrew  Duns,  3^  3°7' 34S> 
and  of  the  teind  sheaves  of  the  same,  and  from 
William,  Earl  of  Home,  of  the  teinds,  great  and 
small,  parsonage  and  vicarage,  of  the  lands  of  Hound- 
wood,  in  the  parish  of  Coldingham,  and  some  other 
small  appanages  of  Langton  barony  that  had  been 
alienated  by  Sir  Archibald. 

Sir  Alexander  by  his  wife  Mary  Ancrum  had  two 
sons,  Archibald  and  William. 

ARCHIBALD    COCKBURN,    like    the    former    heir- 
apparent  of  same  name,  was  an  advocate  at  the  Scotch  bar, 
and  like  him  was  not  destined  to  succeed  to  his  father's 
honours  and  estates,  dying  before  him  in  1735.     He  married 
Lady    Mary    Campbell,    daughter    of   John,   first    Earl   of  Douglas' 
Breadalbane,  by  his  third  wife,  Mrs.  Littler.     In  Sir  Bernard  P'"'*?', 
Burke's  work  she  is  stated  to  have  been  the  daughter  of  his 
second  wife,  Lady  Mary  Campbell,  the  daughter  of  Archibald, 
Marquess  of  Argyll,  and  widow  of  George,  sixth   Earl  of 
R 


IOO 


Edinburgh. 
Register  of 
Baptisms. 


Ruthirfurds 
of  that  Ilk, 
p.  xlv.,  and 
Chart 
Pedigree. 


Commiss.  of 
Lander  Testa- 
ments, vol.  vi. 


Caithness ;  but  Sir  Robert  Douglas'  statement  is  correct,  for 
by  a  deed,  dated  8th  December  1716,  the  Earl  made  a 
settlement  upon  "  Lady  Mary  Campbell,  my  daughter  by 
Mrs.  Littler."  He,  with  his  second  son,  Lord  Glenorchy 
[this  high-handed  John  of  Glenorchy  having  disinherited  his 
eldest  son  Duncan,  Lord  Ormalie],  gave  a  heritable  bond 
conjunctly  to  "  Mrs.  Littler,  the  Earl's  spouse,"  Lord  Hailes 
gives  a  most  naive  account  of  their  marriage.  Archibald 
Cockburn  and  Lady  Mary  Campbell's  marriage-contract  was 
dated  in  1719.  They  had,  with  a  daughter  Hariot,  married 
to  Sir  David  Kinloch,  Baronet  of  Gilmerton  [the  baptism  of 
"Hariot,  daughter  of  Archibald  Cockburn  of  Langton, 
Advocate,  and  Mary  Campbell,  his  spouse,"  is  thus  registered 
9th  December  1722],  a  son  Alexander,  who  succeeded  as  fifth 
Baronet.  Archibald  was  served  heir  to  his  mother,  Dame 
Mary  Ancrum,  and  had  sasine  as  such  of  Wedderburn, 
Peilrig,  and  Ladielands,  County  Berwick. 

WILLIAM  COCKBURN,  second  son  of  Sir  Alexander 
and  his  wife  Mary  Ancrum,  was  a  merchant  in  Ayton, 
County  Berwick.  He  married  first  Jean,  daughter  of  George 
Ruthirfurd,  merchant,  of  Dunbar,  by  his  wife  Jean,  daughter 
of  Robert  Pringle,  merchant,  of  same  place.  George  Ruthir- 
furd died  in  1710.  Had  he  survived  his  cousin  Robert, 
fourth  Lord  Ruthirfurd  of  Ruthirfurd,  he'  would  have  suc- 
ceeded to  his  honours.  He  left  no  son ;  in  consequence  all 
the  disputes  arose,  which  resulted  in  the  title  remaining  in 
abeyance.  Jean,  his  eldest  daughter,  died  soon  after  without 
issue,  and  William  Cockburn  married  secondly  his  cousin 
Frances,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Cockburn  of  Kingston, 
Jamaica,  by  whom  he  had,  with  a  daughter  Mary,  two  sons, 
Alexander  sixth  Baronet,  and  James  seventh  Baronet  of 
Langton.  He  died  in  July  1731,  leaving  by  his  will,  dated 
2d  of  that  month,  his  wife  Frances  tutrix,  and  Archibald 
Cockburn,  younger  of  Langton,  tutor  to  his  children. 

Sir  Alexander  Cockburn,  seventeenth  Baron,  died 
in  1742,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson. 


XVIII.    SIR  ALEXANDER  COCKBURN  OF 
LANGTON,  fifth  Baronet.     He  was  in  the  army, 


101 

and  was  a  most  promising  officer,  admired  for  his 
gallantry,  and  esteemed  also  by  his  fellow-soldiers 
for  his  estimable  characteristics.  He  was  the  very 
antithesis  of  his  grandfather,  Lord  Breadalbane. 
Though  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  his  wisdom  was 
not  that  of  the  serpent,  nor  could  it  have  been  said 
of  him  as  of  this  famous  John  of  Glenorchy,  that  he 
was  slippery  as  an  eel,  or  cunning  as  a  fox.  He  may 
have  inherited  the  gravity  of  the  Spaniard,  but  was 
generous  and  open-handed  as  he  was  chivalrous  and 
brave. 

Had  he  been  old  enough  to  have  been  taken  into 
council,  and  had  influence  with  that  personage,  he 
might  have  saved  his  name  from  being  execrated  in 
the  north  as  the  instigator  of  the  massacre  of  Glencoe, 
and  would  have  prevented  his  having  the  opportunity 
of  giving  the  audaciously  facetious  answer  he  did 
when  called  upon  to  account  for  his  distribution  of  toryo/Scot- 
the  large  sums  entrusted  to  him  by  the  Government  voi.  1;;.,  p. ' 
to  be  apportioned  amongst  the  Highland  chieftains  l82' Ist Senes- 
for  the  pacification  of  their  country.  He  fell  at 
the  sanguinary  battle  of  Fontenoy,  on  3oth  April 
1745,  having  managed  during  the  short  tenure  of  his 
position  as  chief  of  the  name  to  do  a  good  deal 
towards  improving  it,  harassed  though  he  was  during 
those  few  years,  and  had  been  as  heir-apparent,  by 
the  pressure  of  the  obligations  incurred  by  Sir 
Archibald.  On  the  3d  of  January  in  the  year  in 
which  he  was  slain  on  that  hard-fought  battlefield,  a 
petition  was  presented  by  his  lawyers  combating  the 
claim  of  William  Cockburn  of  Cockburn  to  the  estates 
of  Langton  and  the  office  of  Heritable  Usher  to  His 
Majesty  in  Scotland,  attached  to  the  barony,  in  virtue 
of  a  disposition  made  by  Archibald  Cockburn,  younger 


IO2 

of  Langton,  in  1690,  with  consent  of  his  father,  Sir 
Archibald.  The  consequences  of  his  predecessor's 
arrangements  were  not,  however,  to  be  overcome, 
and  two  years  after  his  untimely  death,  matters  were 
brought  to  a  crisis,  which  possibly,  had  this  rising 
officer  lived,  might  have  been  averted. 

He  appears  to  have  had  a  presentiment  that  he 
was  not  fated  to  achieve  the  position  he  would  have 
adorned,  by  the  careful  manner  he  provided  for  con- 
tingencies. By  his  will,  dated  25th  March  1745,  he 
bequeathed  his  property,  in  the  event  of  his  dying 
without  issue,  to  his  cousin  Alexander,  and  failing 
him,  to  his  brother  James,  the  two  sons  of  William 
Cockburn  of  Ayton  ;  whom  failing,  he  entailed  his 
estate  upon  James  the  eldest,  Martin  the  second,  and 
Thomas,  the  third  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cockburn  of 
Jamaica.  He  was  unmarried,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  above-named  eldest  son  of  his  uncle  William  by 
his  wife  Frances  Cockburn. 


XIX.  SIR  ALEXANDER  COCKBURN  OF 
LANGTON,  who  died  in  his  seventeenth  year 
on  his  way  to  India  a  few  months  after  the  battle 
of  Fontenoy,  so  never  knew  that  he  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  representation  of  the  House  of  Lang- 
ton.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother— 


XX.  SIR  JAMES  COCKBURN  OF  LANGTON, 
seventh  Baronet,  second  son  of  William  of  Ayton, 
who  was  not  left  long  in  peaceful  possession  of  his 
ancestral  lands,  and  the  hereditary  office  of  Ostiarius 
Parliamenti  granted  to  his  ancestor  by  King 


103 

David  II.     He  was  retoured  heir  in    1755,  being 
only   fourteen    years    of   age   at    the   time    of  his 
cousin    Sir   Alexander's    death.      Nevertheless,    on 
20th   November   1747,    Sir   Robert    Dundas,    Lord 
Arniston  [whose  daughter  Martha  married  Archibald 
Cockburn  of  Cockpen],  gave  judgment  that  William 
Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  was  entitled  to  the  sums  he 
claimed  from  Sir  James  Cockburn  and  Mrs.  Hariot 
Cockburn,  and  awarded  to  him  his  estates  and  the 
hereditary   ushership    in    warrandice ;    and    on    5th 
March  1 756  William  got  sasine  under  precept  from  Part.  Reg. 
Chancery  of  the  lands  and  barony  of  Langton,  the  Ovoi.a"ti"' 
lands  of  Borthwick,  Easter  and  Wester  Wolferland,  foL  494> 
Grueldykes,  Cumledge,  Burnhouses,  Oxindin,  Easter 
Winschelis,  and  the  lands  of  Simprim,  in  warrandice 
also  of  the  sasine  contained  in  bonds  granted  by  Sir 
Archibald,  second  Baronet  of  Langton,  and  his  son 
Archibald,  younger  of  Langton,  dated  4th  January 
1690.    The  representatives  of  Sir  George  Mackenzie 
of  Rosehaugh,  of  Henry  Lord  Sinclair,  Stewart  of 
Grantully,  Stewart  of  Ballechin,  and  Henry  Rollo,  had 
all  large  claims  upon   Langton    upon  other   bonds 
given  by  Sir  Archibald  and  his  son  Archibald,  so  the 
estates  were  all  sold,  with  the  result  as  given  above 
in  the  words  of  Sir  Archibald  Steuart ;  and  when  Sir 
James  came  of  age,  he  had  but  his  sword,  and  such 
remnants  from  his  ancestral    possessions  as    might 
revert  to  him  from  their  forced  sale. 

On  1 2th  July  1759  sasine  was  given  by  William  General  Reg. 
Montgomerie  of  Macbiehill,  Advocate,  of  Edinburgh,  ^oi.^xxiii., 
to  Sir  James  Cockburn,  Baronet,  Captain  in  the  Forty-  fol-  2a 
eighth  Regiment,    commanded  by   General   Webb, 
of  an  annual  rent  from  Plewlands,  County  Peebles. 
It  was  a  curious  circumstance  that  the  last  owner  of 


104 

Langton  should  become  identified  again  with  the 
county  which  his  ancestor  left  four  hundred  years 
and  more  before,  to  take  possession  of  that  barony. 
Central  Reg.  On  i  ith  October  1 764  he  had  sasine  on  a  disposition 
vol.*"""'  from  Patrick  Home  of  Billie,  of  the  lands  and 
estate  of  Over  and  Nether  Manderston,  County 
Berwick.  He  was  M.P.  for  Peebles  in  1762.  On 
the  soth  November  of  that  year  he  went  with 
thirteen  other  Scotch  Baronets  to  court,  wearing 
their  Nova  Scotia  badges,  which  has  since  been 
looked  upon  as  a  privilege  thereby  conceded. 

He  married  first  in  1755  Mary,  only  daughter  of 
Henry  Douglas  of  Friarshaw,  of  the  ancient  house 
of  Cavers  [whose  brother  James,  afterwards  of 
Springwood,  County  Roxburgh,  brought  home  the 
tidings  of  the  taking  of  Quebec.  He  was  an 
Admiral  in  the  Royal  Navy,  and  was  made  a 
Baronet  for  distinguished  services  in  1786].  By  her 
he  had  three  daughters,  Mary,  Frances,  who  both  died 
unmarried,  and  Harriet,  married  in  1792  to  James 
Nicholas,  second  son  of  Sir  John  Duntze,  Baronet. 
Sir  James  married  secondly  Augusta-Anne,  daughter 
of  the  Very  Rev.  Francis  Ascough,  Dean  of  Bristol, 
by  his  wife  Anne,  sister  of  the  distinguished  George 
Lyttleton,  first  Lord  Lyttleton  :  and  by  her,  who 
died  1837,  had,  besides  a  daughter  Anne-Augusta, 
five  sons — 

I.  Sir  James,  a  General  in  the  Army,  succeeded 

as  eighth  Baronet. 

II.  Sir  George,  an  Admiral  in  the  Navy,  suc- 
ceeded as  ninth  Baronet. 

III.  William,  Dean  of  York,  succeeded  as  tenth 

Baronet. 

IV.  Alexander,  Envoy-Extraordinary  and  Minis- 

ter   to    Columbia,  who    married    Yolande, 


daughter  of  the  Vicompte  de  Vignier, 
and  by  her  had  Alexander  James  Edmond, 
Lord  Chief-Justice  of  England,  eleventh 
Baronet,  and  two  daughters,  Louise 
Clemence  Rose,  who  married  Signer 
Biasini,  and  died  at  Milan  1862,  and 
Yolande  Bridget,  who  married  Baron 
Pierre  Francois  Ferrari,  an  officer  of  the 
Italian  army,  and  died  in  1854. 
V.  Sir  Francis,  a  General  in  the  Army,  Governor 
of  Honduras,  who  married  Alicia,  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Richard  Sandys,  of  the  very 
ancient  family  of  Sandys  of  Greythwaite 
Hall,  County  Westmoreland,  by  his  wife 
Lady  Frances  Alicia  Bennet,  daughter  of 
Charles,  third  Earl  of  Tankerville.  They 
had  no  children.  Sir  Francis,  K.C.B., 
died  in  1868. 

Anne- Augusta  married  the  Rev.  Charles  Haw- 
kins, prebendary  of  York  and  canon  residentiary. 
Their  eldest  daughter,  Cecilia-Mary,  married  the 
Hon.  and  Rev.  John  Baillie,  canon  residentiary  of 
York  ;  her  sister,  Georgiana-Augusta,  married 
James  Charles  Yorke,  great-grandson  of  first  Earl  of 
Hardwicke. 

Although  the  hereditary  office  so  long  enjoyed 
by  the  Cockburns  of  Langton,  and  attached  as  an 
appanage  to  that  Barony,  had  been  adjudged  to 
William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  along  with  the  estates 
in  security  of  his  claims,  and  sold  to  Mr.  Coutts, 
Sir  James  again  held  it,  sasine  thereof  being  given 
to  him  on  charter  under  the  Great  Seal  on  I2th 
May  1769.  On  the  igth  September  in  same  year 


io6 


General 
Register  of 
Sasints,  vol. 
cclxix.,  fol. 
143  ;  vol. 
cclxxiv.,  fol. 
219. 


Ibid.,  vol. 
cclxxiv.,  p. 
273- 


Ibid.,  vol. 
cccxlviii. ,  fol. 
219. 


sasine  was  given  by  disposition  from  Alexander, 
Earl  of  Home,  to  Walter  Scott,  Writer  to  the 
Signet  [Sir  Walter  of  Abbotsford's  father],  and  on 
disposition  from  the  said  Walter  Scott  in  favour  of 
Sir  James  Cockburn,  Baronet  of  Langton,  His 
Majesty's  Heritable  Usher  for  Scotland,  of  the  lands 
of  Mickle  Birgheame,  with  the  teinds  thereof,  in  the 
parish  of  Eccles,  County  Berwick,  which  property 
had  long  been  possessed  by  the  Cockburns  of  Cock- 
burn  ;  and  on  the  same  day  sasine  was  also  given 
by  the  same  Walter  Scott  to  him  of  "  five  husband 
lands  in  Birgham  on  disposition  by  Rosamond  Dal- 
gleish,  daughter  of  the  late  James  Dalgleish  of 
Westwood,  who  had  assigned  the  said  lands  to 
Walter  Scott."  So  Sir  James  still  held  some 
portion  of  the  family  lands  in  the  county  in 
which  his  distant  ancestors  first  made  a  figure  in 
Scotland,  as  well  as  in  the  county  of  Peebles, 
where  his  predecessors  had  held  such  extensive 
territories. 

There  was  a  bond  of  reversion  to  himself  and  his 
father-in-law,  Henry  Douglas  of  Friarshaw,  dated 
1 3th  June  1777,  the  latter  having  given  "sasine  in 
favour  of  Mary,  Frances,  and  Jane-Harriot,  the  three 
lawful  daughters  of  Sir  James  Cockburn,  Baronet, 
and  grand-daughters  of  the  said  Henry  Douglas  of 
an  annual  rent  out  of  the  lands  of  Friarshaw." 

Sir  James  Cockburn  died  at  Hillingdon,  22d  July 
1804,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  James— 


XXI.  SIR  JAMES  COCKBURN,  G.C.H., 
eighth  Baronet  of  Langton,  was  a  General  in  the 
Army,  an  Under  Secretary  of  State  in  1806,  Cover- 


nor  of  Curagoa  in  1807,  and  subsequently  of  Ber- 
muda. This  gallant  soldier  married  the  Honourable 
Mariana  Devereux,  eldest  daughter  of  the  thirteenth 
Viscount  Hereford,  and  had  an  only  child,  Mariana- 
Augusta,  married  in  1834  to  Sir  James  John 
Hamilton,  Baronet  of  Woodbrooke,  who  died  in 
1876.  Lady  Hamilton  is  now  representative 
of  the  ancient  baronial  house  of  Langton.  Her 
father,  Sir  James,  died  in  1852. 

XXII.  SIR  GEORGE  COCKBURN,  G.C.B., 
succeeded  his  brother  as  ninth  Baronet.  He  was 
also  a  very  distinguished  officer.  He  was  Admiral 
of  the  Fleet  and  Rear-Admiral  of  England,  and  a 
Privy  Councillor.  His  most  brilliant  services  were 
on  the  American  coast  during  the  war,  when  he 
became  very  conspicuous  by  his  dash  and  gallantry. 
The  credit  of  the  successful  operations  on  shore  in 
1813,  when  the  joint  naval  and  military  forces 
entered  Washington,  was  due  to  him,  and  was 
generously  acknowledged  to  be  so  by  General  Ross, 
the  commander  of  the  troops.  He  commanded  at 
the  siege  of  Cadiz  in  1810,  and  served  at  the  battle 
of  St.  Vincent,  and  was  afterwards  Commander-in- 
Chief  at  the  Cape  and  St.  Helena,  to  which  place 
he  conveyed  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  He  was  a 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty  from  1818  to  1830,  and 
again  from  1841  to  1846,  and  sat  in  Parliament  as 
Member  for  Portsmouth  in  1818,  and  for  Ripon 
from  1841  to  1847. 

His  name  is  handed  down  to  posterity  on  the 
map  of  the  world ;  many  places  in  the  remotest 
regions  of  the  Empire,  in  both  hemispheres,  being 
named  in  his  honour.  So,  thanks  to  him,  the 

s 


io8 

representatives  of  a  race  so  fallen  from  its  ancient 
position  know  that  "  et  laus  et  honos  nomenque 
tuum  semper  manebit." 

The  Right  Honourable  Sir  George  died  in  1853, 
leaving,  like  Sir  James,  only  one  daughter  by  his 
wife  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Cockburn  of 
Jamaica,  Augusta- Hariot,  married  to  Captain  John 
Cochrane  Hoseason,  R.N.  She  died  without  having 
had  children  in  1869. 

XXIII.  SIR  WILLIAM  COCKBURN  suc- 
ceeded his  brother  as  tenth  Baronet.  He  was 
Dean  of  York,  and  married  Elizabeth,  sister  of  the 
celebrated  statesman  Sir  Robert  Peel.  By  her  he 
had  three  sons,  James  Peel,  Robert  Drayton,  and 
George.  The  two  youngest  died  unmarried  in  the 
prime  of  life;  the  eldest,  born  in  1807,  married 
Ellen,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Robert  Peel  of 
Wellington  Hall,  County  Norfolk,  and  left  two 
daughters,  Augusta-Ellen,  married  to  Hugh  Francis 
Lethbridge,  second  son  of  Sir  Francis  Astley,  Baronet, 
and  had  a  son  who  died  young,  and  three  daughters, 
Ida-Mabel,  who  married  Captain  Benyon,  Ada-Mary 
and  Ruth-Ellen.  Elizabeth,  James  Peel  Cockburn's 
eldest  daughter,  married  the  Rev.  Frederick  Fane 
of  Moyles  Court,  Hants,  and  had  three  daughters, 
Cecily  Grace  Augusta,  married  to  W.  R.  Phelips  of 
Montacute  ;  Florence  Mary  Anna,  married  Wynne 
A.  Bankes  of  Wolverton,  County  Dorset ;  and 
Lilla-Gertrude,  married  to  the  Hon.  Arthur 
Fortescue. 

The  Very  Rev.  Sir  William  Cockburn,  who 
married  secondly  Emma,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Pearse,  by  whom  he  had  no  children,  died  3Oth 


log 

April  1858,  and  was  buried,  as  were  his  three  sons, 
at  Kelston,  near  Bath,  of  which  he  held  the  living. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew. 

XXIV.  SIR  ALEXANDER  JAMES  ED- 
MUND COCKBURN,  eleventh  Baronet,  whose 
name  as  a  brilliant  orator,  far-seeing  statesman,  as 
well  as  a  most  able  lawyer  and  judge,  will  be  in- 
scribed on  the  pages  of  the  history  of  Great  Britain 
during  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria.  He  was  twice 
Attorney- General,  and  became  Lord  Chief- Justice 
of  England  in  1859.  He  died  in  1880,  in  the 
seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age.  The  title  remains  in 
abeyance. 

No  opportunity  occurred  for  his  regaining  the 
ancient  heritage  of  Langton,  with  which  the  con- 
nection of  the  Campbells  of  Breadalbane  was  re- 
newed. Mr.  Gavin,  the  purchaser,  married  Lady 
Elisabeth  Maitland,  daughter  of  the  seventh  Earl  of 
Lauderdale,  and  had  a  daughter,  his  heiress,  Mary 
Turner  Gavin,  who  married  John  Campbell,  fourth 
Earl  and  first  Marquis  of  Breadalbane,  with  whose 
heir  the  estate  remains.  Sir  Alexander  was  offered 
a  peerage  upon  two  occasions,  but  declined  the 
honour.  He,  however,  accepted  the  Grand  Cross 
of  the  Bath. 


COCKBURN  OF  ORMISTON. 


I.  $0l)n  foe  €okbtirn,  second  son  of  Sir 
Alexander  de  Cokburn,  by  his  first  wife  Mariota  de 
Veteri-Ponte,  was  the  founder  of  this  very  eminent 
and  influential  branch  of  the  family.  With  the  hand 
of  Joneta  or  Janet,  only  child  of  Sir  Alexander  de  furd's  Lives  of 
Lyndessay,  Lord  of  Ormiston,  he  got  this  fine  estate,  v 
which,  with  the  lands  of  Muirhous,  Tempilshall,  and 
Peaston,  and  the  manor-place  thereof,  was  settled 
upon  them  conjointly  for  their  lives,  and  to  descend 
to  their  heirs ;  whom  failing,  all  these  properties 
were  to  go  to  William  Lindsay,  Lord  of  the  Byres, 
who  was  Sir  Alexander's  youngest  nephew.  This 
Sir  Alexander  Lindsay  was  one  of  the  heroes  of 
THE  BRUCE'S  time,  and  was,  when  quite  a  young 
man,  the  friend  and  companion-in-arms  of  Wallace, 
being  the  son  of  the  great  "  Sir  Alexaundre  de 
Lindesei,"  who  had  the  honour  in  1 305  of  being  one 
of  the  seven  allies  of  the  noble  patriot  specially 


\ 


I  12 


excepted  by  King  Edward  from  the  general  con- 
ditions of  pardon  offered  to  their  countrymen,  as 
having  been  more  obstinate  in  their  rebellion,  and 
deserving  of  more  signal  punishment ;  "  the  fact  of 
his  having  received  the  accolade  of  knighthood  from 
Edward's  own  hand  some  years  before  was^  remem- 
bered against  him  in  aggravation."  Joneta's  father 
was  the  next  younger  brother  of— 

Schir  Dawy  the  Lyndyssay 

That  was  true  and  of  steadfast  fay. 

The  marriage  of  the  son  of  the  powerful  and 
opulent  Baron  of  Langton  and  that  Ilk  with  this 
heiress  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Lindsay,  was  an 
event  of  no  ordinary  importance,  if  we  are  to  judge 
by  the  array  of  noble  names  attached  to  the  contract 
regarding  it  made  by  the  respective  fathers.  It  was 
witnessed  23d  February  1370  Dominis  Thomas, 
and  Hugh,  Abbots  of  the  Monasteries  of  the  Holy 
Cross  and  Newbotil;  Archibald  de  Douglas,  James 
de  Douglas,  Walter  de  Haliburton,  George  de 
Reg.  Great  Abernythy,  Patrick  de  Hepburn,  Alexander  de 
^  Haliburton,  Knights ;  John  de  St.  Clair,  William  de 
Creichton  of  that  Ilk,  Symon  de  Preston  Vicecomes 
of  Lothian,  Alexander  de  Rynclintoun,  Adam  Nesbit 
of  that  Ilk,  Thomas  de  Hoppringil,  John  Spottiswood 
of  that  Ilk,  and  many  others.  Had  there  been  a 
"  Court  Journal "  in  those  days,  we  should  have  had  a 
glowing  account  handed  down  to  us  of  the  gallant 
show  on  that  morning  when  John  Cockburn  and 
Janet  Lindsay  walked  between  the  crowd  of  brave 
knights  and  fair  ladies  to  the  door  of  the  church,  of 
the  imposing  ceremony  within  its  walls,  and  the 
joyous  festivities  that  followed ;  how  King  David 


kissed  the  bride,  and  led  her  out  to  the  dance  after- 
wards. We  may  well  believe  that  in  those  days 
when  the  great  nobles  stood  upon  nearly  even  terms 
with  the  monarch,  when  men  spoke  as  they  did  in 
the  next  reign  of  Sir  James  Sandilands,  "  marreit  on 
ye  Kingis  daughter,"  and  of  Sir  John  Lyon  of 
Glamis,  and  James  Lindsay,  Lord  of  Crawfurd,  and 
others,  as  the  King's  nevoys,  the  excitement  on  an 
occasion  such  as  this  would  be  much  greater,  and 
the  spectacle  far  more  picturesque  and  imposing 
than  in  modern  days,  when  the  appearance  of  the 
onlookers  varies  but  little  from  that  of  the  principal 
actors  in  the  scene.  Passing  amid  the  throng  of 
rustics,  all  in  their  rude  but  quaint  holiday  attire, 
rode  we  may  suppose  in  the  morning  the  nobles  on 
gaily  caparisoned  steeds,  with  their  numerous 
retinues,  the  pennons  waving  and  clarions  sounding. 
Accompanying  some  of  them  would  be  the  young 
married  dames,  and  the  maidens  who  were  to  attend 
their  friend  Joneta  on  the  occasion,  mounted  on 
mettled  palfreys,  such  as  the  one  William  de  Seytone 
brought  to  Westminster  on  igth  December  1312,  as 
a  gift  from  King  Edward  to  "  Lady  Nicola,"  wife 
of  Piers  de  Luband,  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity, 
when  he  was  styled  "  Dominus  de  Cokburn."  The 
Scottish  ladies,  no  doubt,  had  saddles  little  less 
sumptuous  than  that  with  which  the  monarch  accom- 
panied his  gift  to  Nicola  of  this  "  Hard  palfrey," 
which  he  had  bought  from  Aclam  of  Strode  for  £6 
[a  large  sum  at  that  time].  It  is  described  as  being 
ornamented  with  a  lion  broidered  in  pearls  and 
covered  with  purple  cloth.  The  older  dames  would 
be  borne  in  litters  resplendent  in  their  robes  of  cloth 
of  gold  and  rich  Mantuan  velvets  ;  for  well  did  the 


H4 

milliners'   daughters    in    those   days    (who   had   no 
aspirations  to  wear  such  garments  themselves  and 
to  mingle  with  Princes  and  Princesses  and  be  pr 
sented  to  their  Queen)  know  how  with  deft  fingers 
to  array  their  patronesses  in  imposing  costumes. 

There  is  not  much  to  tell  about  the  bride  and  her 
husband    after    that    gay   day   when    they   passed 
"throw  the  Abbay-close  strowed  with  girse  at  ye 
tyme  of  ye   marriage,"  when    outside  its   precincts 
were  gathered  the  minstralis,  the  tambornans,  the 
danceiris,   the   schawmeris,   &c.      We   may  believe 
that  brilliant  were  the  scenes  witnessed  in  after  years 
when  the  Lady  Joneta  held  her  Court  in  the  halls 
of    Ormiston.     She   watched    her    sons    grow    up, 
trained  to  be  warriors  and  statesmen  under  the  eyes 
of  their  father  and  their  uncles,  Sir  David  Lindsay 
and  Archibald  of  Douglas  [who  married  Sir  David's 
sister  Beatrix],  and  it  may  be  taught  to  hold  a  lance 
by  their   stout   old   grandfather  Sir   Alexander  de 
Lyndesay  himself.     There  is  little  doubt  that  one  of 
them  was  the   "  Cockburn,  the   young   Esquire  of 
Scotland,"  who  jousted   with  Sir   Nicolas  Haulert, 
and  carried  himself  so  gallantly  at  the  tournament 
on    London    Bridge   upon   that   St.    George's    day, 
A.D.  1390,  when  Richard  II.  and  his  Queen,  Anne 
of  Bohemia,  saw  the  English  champion,  the   Lord 
Welles,    unhorsed    by   his    antagonist    Sir    David 
Lindsay,     Earl     of     Crawfurd,    whose    bride,    the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Robert  II.,  watched 
the   encounter  with   anxious    eyes,    and   shuddered 
when  she  saw  the  spear  strike  full  on  his  face,  and 
heard  the  spectators  shouting  that  he  was  bound  to 
his  saddle,  so  firm  was  his  seat. 

John  Cockburn,  who  was  made  Constable  of  the 


U5 

County  of  Haddington,  an  office  held  for  generations 
by  his  descendants,  had  by  his  wife  Joneta,  with  a 
daughter  Mirabelle,  three  sons  whose  names  have 
come  down  to  us — Adam,  a  good  soldier  and  able 
diplomatist,  as  was  also  John,  the  second  son,  who 
succeeded  his  brother. 

PATRICK,  the  third  son,  was  also  a  man  of  mark  in 
his  day.  He  was  Governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle  and  Sheriff 
of  the  County  of  Haddington,  and  was  one  of  the  ambas- 
sadors sent  to  treat  with  the  English  after  the  important 
victory  gained  by  the  Scots  in  1448,  under  Hugh  Douglas, 
Earl  of  Ormond,  over  Percy,  Earl  of  Northumberland  [there 
taken  prisoner]  and  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  when  3000  English 
were  slain  or  drowned  in  the  Solway,  flying  from  the  crim- 
soned battle-field,  near  where  the  All-for-naught  burn  joins 
the  Sark. 

Patrick  married  Helen  Ker,  daughter  of  Thomas  Ker  of 
Kersheuch  [Ferniehirst].  We  do  not  know  whether  they  had 
any  children  or  not.  Helen,  like  her  husband's  kinsman 
Patrick  of  Newbigging  and  Clerkington's  wife,  Helen  Dunbar, 
was  a  lady  who  liked  to  see  all  the  damsels  in  her  chambers 
in  Edinburgh  Castle  usefully  employed,  and  received  the 
same  grace  as  she  did,  having  by  the  King's  command  the  Exchequer 

duties  remitted  to  her  due  upon  her  sacks  of  wool  in  1447-8.     Rolls,  vol.  v., 

p.  308. 

John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  died  about  1410.     He 
had  various  favours  granted  to  him  by  the  Sovereign. 
In  1404  there  is  a  memorandum  in  the  comptroller's  /#</.,  vol.  Hi., 
accounts   of  there  having  been  paid  to  him  portion  F 
of  the  pension  of  the  late  Duke  of  Albany  ;  another 
part  of  this  was  granted  to  his  nephew  Alexander 
of  Langton,   Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal.      He  was 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son — 

ii.  3U>am  €ockburn  of  Ormiston,  who 

is  found  entrusted    on  various    occasions    with    the 

T 


u6 

Rot.  ScMr,      conduct  of  important  negotiations  between  the  king- 
>[•*:•  P- 2°^;  doms.     In  1411  he  had  a  safe-conduct  from   Henry 
IV.  to  come  to  London  with  his  kinsman  Sir  Wil- 
liam of  Langton,  Sir  Robert  Lawedyr  [Lauder],  and 
Rymer's/w.    Robert  Hogg,  and  in  1413  he  again  went  as  ambas- 
pma"' "        sador  with  Sir  William  and  Alexander  Lindsay,  Earl 
Haddington's    of  Crawford.     He  appears  to  have  been  unmarried, 
and  to  have  died  soon  after  his  return  from  England. 


in.  £ir  3ol)it  Olockbuvn  of  ©rmiston 

succeeded  his  brother.  His  name  appears  in  1416 
as  "  Dominus  Johannes  de  Cockburn  de  Ormiston 
miles,"  in  a  deed  affecting  some  lands  in  the 
dominium  of  Crawfurd  -  Johne,  County  Lanark, 
granted  by  Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas,  to  John  de 
Carnis  ;  and  he  was  witness  also  to  the  charter  of 
the  same  lands  to  him  by  Earl  Archibald's  widow, 
Reg.  Great  Margaret,  "  the  gentle  Duchess  of  Touraine,"  in  the 

Seal,  vol.  n.,  i     i      i     >      i          i  TT--          T  ^.L 

No.  255.  reign  of  that  royal  ladys  brother,  King  James  the 
First,  confirmation  of  which  grant  was  given  by  her 
nephew,  James  the  Second,  in  1440. 

The  same  monarch's  confirmation  of  the  charter 
of  Thomas  de  Summyrville  of  Carnwythe,  wherein, 
with  consent  of  his  son  and  heir,  William  de  Sum- 
myrville, he  granted  "  puram  perpetuam  elemo- 
sinam  uni  capellano  in  perpetuum  celebraturi  pro 
salute  anime  Radulphi  Were  ad  altare  S.  Marie 
infra  monasterium  S.  Machuti,"  was  also  witnessed, 

ibid.,  vol.  H.,  tjth  June  1424,  by  John  de  Cokburne,  dominus  de 
Ormystoune.  Thomas  Somerville  had  probably 
been  glad  to  fly  to  "  the  pleasant  fields  of  Les 
Macutes"  [Lesmahago],  County  Lanark,  and  find 
himself  safe  within  the  bounds  of  the  Sanctuary, 


n7 

until  it  was  settled  by  the  assize  whether  the  son  of 
Were  or  Vere  of  Blackwood  had  been  slain  by  him 
of  "  forethought  fellony,"  or  in  "  chaudemelle."  The 
church  dedicated  to  Saint  Machutus  was  one  of  the 
Sanctuaries  similar  to  those  in  Tudea  of  old, 

J  '    cfiou,  Preface, 

anxiously  provided  by  our  forefathers  "  that  the  pp-  22, 23. 
slayer  may  flee  thither  which  killeth  any  person 
unawares,"  "  that  the  manslayer  die  not  until  he 
stand  before  the  congregation  in  judgement."  It 
was  granted  in  1144  by  King  David  as  a  cell  to 
Kelso,  who  by  the  same  charter  conferred  upon  it 
the  secular  privilege  of  sanctuary  in  these  terms  : — 
"  Whoso  for  escaping  peril  of  life  and  limb  flee  to 
the  said  cell,  or  come  within  the  four  crosses  that 
stand  round  it,  of  reverence  to  God  and  Saint 
Machutus,  I  grant  them  my  firm  peace."  To  incur 
the  censure  and  vengeance  of  the  Church,  Mr.  Cosmo 
Innes,  from  whose  instructive  preface  to  the  "  Liber 
S.  Marie  de  Calchou,"  or  chartulary  of  the  Tironen- 
sian  Abbey  of  Kelso,  these  quotations  are  made,  was 
sufficiently  formidable;  but  to  break  "the  King's 
peace"  brought  with  it  something  of  more  definite 
punishment.  It  was  not  the  mysterious  divinity  that 
doth  hedge  a  king.  "  The  King's  peace"  was  a 
privilege  which  attached  to  the  Sovereign's  court  and 
castle,  but  which  he  could  confer  on  other  places  and 
persons.  By  a  most  ancient  law  the  penalty  of 
raising  the  hand  to  strike  within  the  King's  girth 
was  four  cows  to  the  King,  and  one  to  him  whom 
the  offender  would  have  struck,  and  for  slaying  a 
man  in  "the  pes  of  our  Lord  the  King"  the  forfeit 
was  nine  score  of  cows  to  the  Monarch,  besides  the 
assythment  or  composition  to  the  kin  of  him  slain, 
"  aftir  the  assize  of  the  land."  The  candles  burning 


upon  this  altar  in  the  Church  of  St.  Macute  were,  we 
may  presume,  part  of  the  peace-offering  to  the 
friends  of  Radulphus.  This  place  of  refuge  was  on 
more  than  occasion  a  welcome  shelter  to  Feeble 
shire  Cockburns  and  Tuedys,  &c.,  when  they  could 
not  venture  to  try  and  reach  another  sanctuary  nearer 
home,  namely,  that  at  Inverlethan,  which  possessed 
the  same  privileges  by  charter  from  Malcolm  IV., 
who  ordains  therein  "  that  the  said  church  in  which 
cai-  my  son's  body  rested  the  first  night  after  his  decease 
,  Preface,  shall  have  a  right  of  sanctuary  in  all  its  territory  as 
fully  as  Wedale  [in  Stow],  or  Tyningham,  and  that 
none  dare  violate  its  peace  and  mine  on  pain  of  for- 
Dairympie,  feiture  of  life  and  limb."  This  charter,  as  Lord 
Hailes  says,  exposes  the  absurdity  of  chroniclers' 
fables  about  King  Malcolm. 

John  Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ormiston,  was  one  of 
.,  the  Commissioners  of  Scotland  who  met  those  for 
vol.  x.,  P. 428.  Engianci   at    Haudenstank,   near   Redden,    County 
Roxburgh,    to    settle    the  boundaries   between    the 
ROI.  Scotia,      kingdoms  on  i2th  July  1429,  to  which  his  secretum 
vol.  a.,  P. 265.  was  appended.     In  1 4 57  he  was  again 

upon    the   border   arranging   with  the 
English  ambassador  the  treaty  regard- 
ing Hot  Trodd,  or  the  pursuit  of  thieves 
and   marauders   across    the    respective 
seal    of    John   borders.      Being    evidently  a    man    of 
pend°dbTo  ""a  great  firmness  and  ability,  he  was  on 
concordia    for   other  occasions  entrusted  with  the  con- 

Ibid.,  vol.  n.,        fixing        march 

p-  375-  boundary,  i2th   duct  of  state  matters  between  the  two 

countries.  He  was,  as  well  as  his 
brother  Patrick,  Governor  for  a  time  of  Edinburgh 
Castle.  On  2Oth  March  1460  there  was  paid  xxx. 
lib.  vi.  s.  and  Sd.  Domino  Johanni  de  Cokburne 


u9 

militi  constabulario  Castri  de  Edinburgh  ;  and  again 
"  dicto  Johanni  pro  reparacione  certarum  domorum 
in  dicto  castro  x.  Ib."  His  wife  was  Margaret 
Seton.  Dispensation  for  the  marriage  "  Domini 
Johannis  Cokburne  cum  Margareta  de  Cetone  ex- 
pedita  sub  cera,  per  pcenitenciarium,"  is  noted  in  the 
Chronicles  of  Coldingham  Priory. 

He  had  three  sons,  William,  Alexander,  and  John, 
The  eldest,  who  sat  in  the  General  Council  in  1440,  p-  236> 

....      -          .  .      .     .  Acts  of  Parlia- 

died  before  his  father.  ment  of  Scot- 

land, vol.  ii., 
P-  55- 

iv.  ^le#anber  (Hockburn  of  ©rmiston, 

the  second    son,   succeeded    his  father  about    1470. 

He  was  alive  in   1503,  when  his  son  John,  styled 

"  apparent  of  Ormiston,"    witnessed    the    retour   of 

Helen    Ruthirfurd,    "  Ladye    of    that    Ilk,"    to    her  Kuthirfurds 

brother  Richard,  as  heiress  of  the  lands  of  Edger-  of  that  m, 

ston.     This  deed  is  in  the  Edgerston  charter  chest. 

v.    #ol)tt    €ockburn    of    (Drmtston 

married   Margaret  Crichton.     On    25th  April    1472 
the  charter  was  dated  whereby  James    III.   "  con-  Reg.  Great 
cessit  Johanni  de  Cokburne  et  Margarete  de  Crech-  NO. '1061. 
toun  ejus  sponse,  terras  de  Tempillaw  ac   10  mer- 
catas    terrarum   de    Pastoune    in    constabulario    de 
Haddingtoune  vie  Edinburgh,  quas  Alex.  Cokburne 
de  Ormistoune  pater  dicti  Johannis  personaliter  re- 
signavit,  &c."     Margaret  was  probably  the  daughter 
of  "  David    de    Creichton    de    Cranstoune-Redale." 
They  had  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 

I.  ALEXANDER,  who  died  before  his  father.     Robert 
Scott  of  Quhitchester  owed  him  some  money,  and  placed  the 


I2O 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  79. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  2532. 


Commas,  of 
Edin.  Testa- 
ments. 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  2097. 


lands  so  named  in  the  hands  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Branx- 
holm  till  the  debt  was  paid. 

II.  JOHN,  who  succeeded  as  sixth  Baron  of  Ormiston. 

III.  THOMAS,  who  had  the  Kirklands  of  Bolton  [situated 
in  the  parish  now  so  called].     The  Barony  of  "  Boeltun  " 
was  an  ancient  possession  of  the  Cockburns  of  Ormiston, 
though  the  greater  part  had  been  for  some  time  disposed  of. 
It  was  the  patrimony  of  John  Cockburn,  who  married  Janet 
Lindsay,  heiress  of  Ormiston.     His  father  got  it  along  with 
Carriden,  after  his  marriage  with  the  heiress  of  the  de  Veteri- 
Pontes.     The  charter  of  Boltoun  [renewing  the  previous  ones 
by  Robert  Bruce  and  William  the  Lion  to  William  de  Veteri- 
Ponte]  was  given  to  him  by  King  David  II.     ...     The 
patronage  of  the  ancient  church  of  Boltoun  was  granted  to 
the  Monastery  of  Kelso  by  this  William  de  Veteri-Ponte,  as 
previously  mentioned. 

Thomas  had  a  son,  Laurentius,  married  to  Helen,  daughter 
of  Sinclair  of  Blans,  which  place  was  adjacent.  They  had 
joint  sasine  of  the  Kirklands  of  Bolton  i6th  January  1553. 
Helen's  father,  John  Sinclair  of  Blans,  married  Katherine, 
daughter  of  William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk.  Laurence  and 
Helen  Cockburn  had  a  son  John,  designated  of  the  Kirk- 
lands of  Bolton,  who  was  Sheriff-depute  of  the  County  of 
Haddington.  He  appears  as  cautioner  in  1587  for  the  Cock- 
burns  of  Clerkington  regarding  an  agreement  made  by  them 
with  the  Fawsides  of  that  Ilk,  which  will  be  referred  to  in 
the  memoir  of  Clerkington.  The  will  of  John  Cockburn  of 
the  Kirklands  of  Bolton,  Sheriff-depute  of  Haddington,  was 
registered  i3th  June  1599.  His  son  Henry  was  served  heir 
to  the  same  lands.  He  was  a  merchant  and  Provost  of 
Haddington,  and  was  the  progenitor  of  several  families  whose 
representatives  held  offices  in  that  burgh  and  in  Edinburgh. 
The  third  part  of  Bolton  belonged  to  Alexander,  Lord  Home, 
who  sold  it  in  1563  to  William  Maitland  of  Lethington. 

IV.  HELEN,  married  Alexander   Gourlay  of  Kincraig, 
County  Fife.     They  had  joint  charter  of  Aldiristown  and 
Peddercraig,   County  Haddington,    i4th  May  1492,  which 
lands  were  given  to  his  nephew  by  John  Gourlay  of  Kincraig. 


121 

Aldiristoun  and  Capounflats  were  granted  to  Simon  Gourlay  R.  R.  Stod- 

in  the  reign  of  David  II.     He  was  no  doubt  descended  from   "t>s  Scottis^. 

"  Alanus  de  Gourlay  in  Scotia,"  who  is  mentioned  in  a  deed   p.  157. 

dated  at  Witefield,  the  Tuesday  after  the  Feast  of  St.  James 

the   Apostle   A.D.    1274,   in   presence  of  Sir  Ingram,  then 

Abbot  of  Albalanda,  Sir  Ida  of  Beveston,  Robert  Scot,  and   Cotton  Charter 

John  de  Veteri-Ponte,  &c.,  as  having  engaged  to  relieve  the 

Abbot  and  Convent  of  Newhouse,  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,   30. 

of  a  rent  due  by  them  to  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  and  Elizabeth, 

his  nieces,  daughters  and  heirs  of  Walter,  son  of  Pagan  of 

Hellay,  and  to  Goda,  their  mother,  at  the  term  of  Martinmas 

1273.      Alexander  and   Helen   Gourlay's   sons,  William   of 

Kincraig  and  John,  had  remission  23d  November  1539  for 

the  slaughter  of  umquhile  Thomas  Borthwick,  committit  by 

thaim  at  "  Pettinweme." 

V.  AGNES,  married  William  Murray  of  Touchadam,  who   Douglas' 
had  new  charter  to  himself  and  Agnes  Cockburn  his  spouse   Baronage, 

of  the   lands   and   barony  of  Touchadam,    Stirlingshire,   in   P'  ' 

Reg.  Great 
March  1507.  Se(U>  voi.  jj., 

No.  3212. 

John,  fifth  baron  of  Ormiston,  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son — 


vi.    $ol)n    €ockburn    of     Ormiston, 

to    whom    on    26.   January    1508    King   James  the 
Fourth  granted  confirmation  of  the  settlement  made 
by  his  father  upon  him  and  his  wife  Margaret  Hep- 
burne  of  the  barony  of  Ormiston,  half  the  lands  of  ibid.,  vol.  ii., 
Paystoun,    &c.,    reserving    Muirhous,    twenty    mer-  Na  3273' 
catas  ville  de  Ormiston,  to  himself,  and  Tempillhall, 
with  reasonable  terce  of  the  rest  to  his  wife  Mar- 
garet Creichton  ;  so  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
preceding  John  of  Ormiston's  eldest  son  was  not 
William,  as  has  been  stated. 

On  the  4th  of  the  same  month,  the  King  granted  iud.,  NO. 
to  him  the  lands  of  Craik,  in  the  barony  of  Chal-  3282- 


122 

mcrlane-Newton,  County  Roxburgh,  which  had  been 
forfeited  by  the  predecessor  of  Patrick  Hepburne, 
Earl  of  Bothwell,  for  alienation  thereof  without  the 
royal  consent,  and  had  not  been  restored  to  his  son 
Adam,  Earl  of  Bothwell. 

He  was  not  permitted  very  quiet  possession  of  his 
new  territory.  On  3Oth  October  1535  Christopher 
Armstrong  [called  John's  Christe],  brother  of  the 
Pitcaim's  unhappy  John  of  Gilnockie,  Archibald  and  Ingram 
frf'T  0*171  Armstrong,  John  Elwand  or  Ellott  [called  Lawis 
John],  Thomas  Armstrong  of  Mangerton,  and 
Symon  Armstrong  [called  Sym  the  Larde],  with 
their  servants,  were  proclaimed  rebels,  and  all  their 
goods,  moveable  and  immoveable,  ordered  to  be 
escheated  "  for  not  appearing  to  underlie  the  law  for 
act  and  part  of  stowthief  under  silence  of  night,  on 
ajth  July  last,  from  John  Cokburne  of  Ormistoune, 
furth  of  his  lands  of  Craik,  within  the  shire  of 
Roxbrugh,  of  seventy  drawand  oxin  and  thirty 
cowes,"  &c. 

On  loth  March  1507  Robert,  son  and  heir  of  the 
Lord  Erskine,  had  charter  of  Syntoun,  Quhitislaid, 
Reg.  Gnat  an^  Dalgleish,  County  Selkirk,  with  leave  to  infeft 
J°^n  Cockburn  of  Ormistoun  in  the  lands  of  Quhit- 
islaid, and  John  Glendonwyn  in  those  of  Dalgleisch. 
The  superiority  of  these  lands  was  resigned  in  1  383 
by  Piers  de  Cockburn  de  Henriland  to  Sir  Thomas 
Erskine  of  Dun.  Quhitislaid,  in  the  barony  of  Glen- 
quhyme  or  Glenholm,  County  Peebles,  was  a  differ- 
ent place  ;  it  belonged  to  the  Glendonwyns  in  1420, 
and  then  partly  to  Scotts,  and  came  back  by  marriage 
to  the  later  Cockburns  of  Henderland.  John  Cock- 
burn  of  Ormiston  had  by  his  wife  Margaret  Hep- 
burne a  son  William,  his  successor. 


"'' 


123 

vii.  William   dlockburn  of  (Drmiston 

was  perhaps  not  as  great  a  farmer  as  his  father. 
Instead  of  having  numbers  of  "  drawand  oxin,"  he 
gave  his  attention  to  improving  the  amenities  of  his 
place  of  Ormiston.  He  appears  to  have  had  no 
small  trouble  in  keeping  his  preserves  there  ;  for  we 
find  that  George  Ker  of  Lyntoun,  Thomas  Ker  of 
Sundirlandhall,  and  James  Ker  of  Fernylie  had 
taken  on  one  occasion  a  long  ride  to  amuse  them- 
selves in  his  domain,  and  were  on  2ist  October 
1528  amerciated  for  not  appearing  "to  underlie 
the  law,  for  art  and  part  in  the  oppressioun  done  to 
William  Cockburn  of  Ormistoun,  coming  to  his  park 
of  Ormistoun  under  silence  of  night,  armed  with 
lances  and  other  weapons  invasive,  breaking  up  the 
gates  thereof,  and  with  bows  and  arrows  chasing  and  , . 

.  r  ,.  Crim.  Trials, 

wounding  his  parkit  deer,  and  also  for  invading  and  vol.  i.,  p.  140. 
wounding  his  servants,  the  keepers  of  the  said  park, 
and  the  mutilation  of  one  of  them,  Thomas  Ander- 
son." New  letters  were  ordained  to  be  issued  against 
them,  "  under  pain  of  rebellioun,  &c."  So  much  for 
the  manner  in  which  these  Border  lairds  took  their 
pastime  by  midnight.  No  doubt  shooting  deer  by 
the  light  of  the  moon  with  bows  and  arrows  must 
have  been  an  exciting  sort  of  sport.  These  three 
hunters  were  all  scions  of  the  house  of  Yair,  and  of  the 
race  of  Ker  or  Carre  of  Ferniehirst,  originally  called 
Ker's-heugh,  and  were  connected  with  the  Ormiston 
family  by  the  marriage  of  Patrick  Cockburn  with 
Helen  Ker.  William  Cockburn  married  Janet  Somer- 
ville,  his  cousin  on  his  mother's  side.  Her  kinswoman 
Marion  was  the  wife  of  Sir  William  Cockburn 
of  Skirling.  They  had  joint  precept  of  infeftment 

u 


Keg,  o 
.s,fl/,gvoi.  viu, 


Keg.  Deeds, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  i.,  p.  336. 


Inquisit.  Re- 
torn.  Abbrev., 
County  Had- 
dingtott,  iv., 
24- 

Commissariat 
of  £  Jin. 
Testaments, 
vol.  viii. 


Kef.  of  the 
Privy  Seal, 
vol.  xxii., 
fol.  63. 

Registrant  de 
Dunfermline, 
p.  486. 

Rig.  of  the 
Privy  Seal, 
vol.  xx.  fol.  93. 


124 

in  the  lands  of  Meredene,  County  Roxburgh,  in 
1528.  Their  children  were— John,  the  heir,  Alex- 
ander, Rinzean  or  Ninian  (of  whose  doings  pre- 
sently), Margaret,  Marion,  and  Helen. 

ALEXANDER  COCKBURN,  the   second   son,    had 

Meredene,  County  Roxburgh,  and  Woodhead,  alias  South- 
wode,  in  the  barony  of  Herdmanston.  He  sold  Meredene  to 
Thomas  M'Dowell  of  M'Caristoune  [Makerston],  within  which 
barony  it  lay.  The  deed  of  sale  was  dated  isth  April  1566. 
His  wife,  Christian,  was  daughter  of  Lawson  of  Humbie. 

They  had  with  two  daughters,  married  respectively  to 
George  and  Ninian  [or  Ringan]  Hamiltons,  a  son  Alexander, 
who  succeeded  to  Woodhead.  The  two  sons-in-law  above 
named  witnessed  his  will  made  i2th  Nov.  1579,  by  which  he 
appointed  his  nephews  John  of  Ormiston,  Samuel  his  brother, 
and  Robert  Lawson  of  Humbie  executors.  A  sum  of  money 
was  left  to  his  daughter  Marion,  presumably  unmarried.  He 
was  at  one  time  anything  but  a  loyal  subject,  for  we  find  that 
on  nth  September  1545,  "Alexander  Cockburn  of  Mere- 
dene,  brother-german  to  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  had 
remission  for  treasonably  assisting  Lord  Grey,  warden  of 
England,  at  the  town  of  Haddington."  In  1557  he  was 
living  in  Tempilhill  in  Ormiston. 

His  elder  brother,  John  of  Ormiston,  had  remission  isth 
September  in  the  next  year  "  for  treasonable  intercommuning 
with  an  Englishman,  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  being  then  in  the 
town  of  Leith  burning  and  destroying  the  same,  and  also  for  his 
evasion  by  caping  and  assault  without  the  walls  of  Edinburgh 
Castle  in  the  month  of  March  last,  without  license  from  the 
Governor  of  the  said  Castle  asked  or  obtained." 

The  Lord  Russel's  "  frende  with  the  Kynges  Hyhnys' 
armye  gives  a  most  pithy  description  of  these  proceedings  '  in 
the  yere  of  our  Lorde  God  1544,'  recounting  the  exploytes 
performed  under  the  blessing  of  God,  and  as  God  wolde  who 
doth  all  things  for  the  best,  and  after  longe  soiornynge  at 
Newcastle  for  lacke  of  commodeous  wundes  gave  that  south 
and  south-south-weste  wind,  so  apte  and  propice  for  cure 
iorney."  He  tells  how  they  "  brente  thabbey  called  Holy 
Rode  Hous,  and  the  pallice  adioynynge  to  the  same ; "  how 


125 

"  the  fyrste  man  that  fledde  [out  of  Liyth]  was  the  holy  cardy-  Fragments  of 
nail  lyke  a  valyaunt  champyon;"  and  after  relating   "that  Scott^^' 
after  they  dislodged  their  camp  out  of  Lith,  having  wan  a  late  Ex- 
fortress  on  a  strong  island  called  Ynchgarue.  and  set  fyre  in  petition  in 

,   ,  ,    Scotland, 

euery  house  and  brente  it  to  the  grounde,  and  brente  and 

reased  Seton,  the  cheife  castell  of  the  Lorde  Seton,  which 
was  ryght  fayre,  and  destroyed  his  orchardes  and  gardens, 
whiche  were  the  fayrest  and  beste  in  ordre  that  we  saw  in  al 
that  cuntry,  and  dyd  hym  the  more  despyte,  because  he  was 
the  chiefe  laborer  to  helpe  theyr  cardy  nail  out  of  pryson,  the 
onely  auctour  of  theyr  calamytie," — right  merrily  he  goes  on  to 
tell  how  "  We  brente  a  fayre  toune  of  the  Erie  of  Bothewelles, 
called  Hadyngton,  with  a  great  nonry  and  a  house  of  freres ; 
and  the  nexte  nyght  after  encamped  besyde  Dunbar.  .  .  . 
That  nyght  they  loked  for  us  to  have  brunt  the  toune  of 
Dunbar,  which  we  deferred  tyll  the  mornyng  at  the  dis- 
lodgynge  of  our  campe,  .  .  .  and  by  reason  we  toke 
them  in  the  mornynge,  who,  haveing  watched  all  nyght  for 
our  comynge,  and  perceyuynge  cure  army  to  dislodge  and 
depart,  thought  themselues  saue  of  vs,  were  newly  gone  to 
theyr  beddes ;  and  in  theyr  fyrste  slepes,  closed  in  with  fyer, 
men,  women,  and  chyldren  were  suffocated  and  brent." 

Little  recked  the  party  to  which  the  Cockburns  of  Ormiston 
belonged  of  the  miseries  brought  upon  their  country — the 
burning  of  the  nuns  and  friars  in  their  religious  houses,  the 
destruction  of  their  abbeys  and  other  places  of  note — so  long 
as  the  hated  Cardinal  was  brought  low.  A  man  of  Lord 
Seton's  character,  having  "  laboured  for  him,"  speaks  in  his 
favour  to  a  certain  extent. 

MARGARET,    the     eldest    daughter,    married    James  Keg.  Great 

Lawson  of  Hieriggs,   County  Edinburgh.     They  had  joint  ^al>  vo1-  "•> 
sasine  loth  January  1549  of  Muirhouse,  one  of  the  earliest 

possessions  of  the  House  of  Ormiston,  from  Patrick  Hepburn,  Keg.  Privy 

"  Lord  of  Halis  and  Creichton,  Great  Admiral  of  Scotland  Seal<  xxiii-» 
and  Earl  of  Both  well."     The  will  of  Margaret  Cockburn,         6z' 

widow  of  James  Lawson,  was  recorded  1590.  Edin.  Reg.  of 

Testaments. 

MARION  married  Hew  Douglas  of  Longniddry,  who 
died  in  1555,  leaving  a  son,  Francis,  whose  wife  Agnes  was 
the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Lauder  of  Haltoun.  An  agree- 


126 


Reg.  Duds, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  ii.,  fol. 
368. 


Rc%.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  1138. 


Reg.  of  Privy 
Seal,  xxxii., 
fol.  22. 


ment  was  made  4th  February  1557  that  his  mother  "  Marioun 
should  bruike,  jois,  haif,  hold,  &c.,  half  the  lands  of  Long- 
niddry,  on  condition  of  mainteyning  in  meit,  claithing,  and 
sustentation  all  her  other  children,  the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
the  said  Francis— namely,  Margaret,  James,  Issobel,  Agnes, 
Hew,  and  David.  George  Douglas,  son  of  Hew  Douglas  of 
Borg,  by  his  wife  Marion,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Cockburn 
of  Skirling,  witnessed  the  contract.  The  Douglasses  of 
Longniddry  descended  from  Henry  Douglas,  youngest  son  of 
James,  seventh  Earl  of  Douglas,  by  Beatrix  Lindsay,  his 
wife.  He  had  charge  of  Dalkeith,  and  the  other  family 
estates,  during  the  time  that  his  elder  brother,  Lord  Dalkeith, 
was  suffering  from  aberration  of  intellect.  He  got  Borg,  in 
Galloway,  which  was  an  extensive  and  important  territory. 
Edward  I.  signified  to  Alexander,  King  of  Scotland,  that  on 
Monday  next,  before  the  Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  in 
the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  Robert  de  Campania  came  before 
him  in  his  Chanonry  at  Chester,  and  quitclaimed  in  fer- 
petuum  to  Devorgulla  de  Galeweya,  lady  of  Balliol,  all  the 
lands  which  he  held  of  her  in  Borg,  in  Galeweya,  in  capite, 
&c. 

HELKN  married  James  Heriot.  They  had  the  gift 
of  the  non-entry  of  the  middle  third  of  Aldiriston,  in  the 
barony  of  Tranent,  I7th  April  1548. 


William  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  who  had  remis- 
sion himself  2ist  July  1522  for  treasonably  inter- 
communing  with  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Newbigging, 
his  brothers  and  servants,  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son,  a  very  prominent  personage  in  the 
troublous  times  in  which  he  lived. 


viii.   30f)tt    Cockburn    of    ©rmiston, 

as  mentioned  above,  had  remission  for  treasonably 
intercommuning  with  the  Earl  of  Hertford  in  1544. 
The  miseries  inflicted  upon  the  country  in  that 


127 

famous  raid  did  not  deter  him  from  actively  assisting 
that  nobleman  when  he  invaded  Scotland  again  in 
1547.  He  actually  guided  the  destroying  army 
through  the  passes  of  the  Lammermoors  on  that 
occasion.  Hertford  had  now  been  advanced  to  the 
Dukedom  of  Somerset,  and  invested  with  the  title  of 
Protector  of  the  Kingdom  during  the  minority  of  his 
nephew  Edward  VI.  His  execution  in  January 
1552  did  not  militate  against  the  services  of  John 
Cockburn  to  the  English  forces  under  his  command 
being  remembered.  Henry  VIII.  had  granted  in 
1545  to  Sir  William  Paget  and  Richard  Cock  the 
dissolved  Hospital  of  St.  Giles  at  Durham,  with  the 
great  manor  of  Kepyer  thereto  belonging,  who  ex-  Robert  Sur- 
changed  these  estates  in  the  following  year  for  those  ^nd  AntiTui- 
which  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Burton-on-Trent.  tiesofDur- 

,  111  •  r      i         ham,  vol.  ii., 

On  i3th   March   1552,  "all  the  possessions  of  the  pp.  267-352. 

ancient    Hospital   of  St.   Giles  were   granted   [6th 

Edward  VI.]    to   John    Cockburn,   Lord    of   Black 

Ormiston."     He  kept  them  for  eight  or  nine  years 

and   then   sold   the   whole   to   John    Heath.       Mr. 

Surtees  gives  a  note  of  the  fine  levied  in  the  year 

1568    [loth    of    Queen    Elizabeth]    between    John  /&•,/.,  vol.  iv., 

Heath  of  the  city  of  London,  merchant,  and  John  pp'  6l'66> 

Cockburn,  Lord  of  Ormiston,  and  Alice  his  wife,  of 

the  manor  of  Kepyer,  Old  Durham,  Iveston,  Fros- 

terly,  Little  Kepyer,  and  Tweedmouth,  five  hundred 

messuages,    as   many  cottages,    as  many  tofts,    ten 

water  mills,  ten  dovecotes,  twenty  thousand  acres  of 

land,  twenty  thousand  of  pasture,  a  thousand  acres 

of  wood,  twenty  thousand  of  marsh  and  moor,  twenty 

pounds  rent  in  Kepyer,  Old  Durham,  Durham  city, 

Spittle    in    Tweedmouth,   &c.      Alice    Heath's    son 

John  had  an  only  child,  Elizabeth,  who  married,  27th 


128 

October    1642,   the    representative   of    the   ancient 
family  of  Tempest,  and  these  immense  estates  came 
to    their   descendant,    Lady    Vane    Tempest,    who 
married  the  third  Marquess  of  Londonderry.     Had 
this  magnificent  property  been    inherited  by  John 
Cockburn's  heirs,  their  position  would  have  been  a 
very  powerful  one  in  later  times.      His  wife  was 
Alison,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Sandilands  of  Calder, 
the  intimate  friend  of  John   Knox,  and  his   warm 
partisan — a  circumstance  overlooked  by  the  amiable 
Mary  Stuart,  who  raised  his  second  son  James  to 
the  peerage  in  1563  by  the  title  of  Lord  St.  John  of 
Torphichen.    The  laird  of  Ormiston,  a  strong-willed 
man,  and  his  brother-in-law  John  Sandilands   [Sir 
James's  eldest  son],  also  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Reformers  with  all  the  ardour  which  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  more  violent  promoters  of  the  move- 
ment.    John  Cockburn,  who  was  a  man  who  at  all 
events  had  the  courage  of  his  opinions,  and  pos- 
sessed the  fire  and  determination  of  his  race,  thought 
to  crush  the  powerful  foe  of  John   Knox  when  he 
guided  the  destroying  army  into  the  heart  of  his 
country,  and  quieted  his  conscience  by  the  belief,  it 
is  to  be  presumed,  that  he  was  advancing  the  cause 
of  true  religion.     No  proceedings  were  too  violent, 
no  excesses  too  outrageous  for  the  hot-headed  en- 
thusiasts who  refused  to  be  guided  by  the  advice  of 
wise  and  prudent  men  such  as  Lethington,  Sir  David 
Lindsay,  or  John  Spottiswood,  afterwards  parson  of 
Calder.       Cardinal    Beaton,    who   was    one    of    the 
ablest  statesmen    of  the   day,  would    probably  not 
have   brought   Wischart   to   the   stake    had    it    not 
seemed   to   him    necessary   to    take    the   strongest 
measures  against  what  he  regarded  as  the  seditious 


129 

teaching,  as  well  as  audacious  heresy  of  Knox  and 
his  associates.  No  one,  however,  even  under  all 
the  overlooked  circumstances,  would  attempt  to 
palliate  the  cruel  ferocity  of  that  execution  any  more  Archbishop 

-  ,  r    i          A        i  i   •    i  •  Spottis- 

than  the  murder  of  the  Archbishop  in  revenge.  v/oode's 

It  was  upon  a  day  early  in  February  1546  that  i^pf^'.^1' 
George  Wischart  had  preached  his  last  sermon  in 
Haddington,  and  next  morning,  bidding  those  of  his 
acquaintance  farewell  as  if  for  ever,  he  went  on  foot 
to  Ormiston,  "  for  the  frost  was  vehement,"  accom- 
panied by  the  Laird  of  that  place,  John  Sandilands 
of  Calder,  and  Creichton  of  Brunstoun.  John  Knox 
was  desirous  to  have  gone  with  him,  but  he  willed 
him  to  go  back,  saying  one  was  enough  at  this  time 
for  a  sacrifice.  .  .  .  About  midnight  the  house 
was  belayed  with  horsemen  that  the  governor  sent 
to  take  him  prisoner.  The  Laird  refusing  to  deliver 
him,  thinking  to  get  him  shifted,  the  Earl  of  Both- 
well,  sheriffe  of  the  county,  came,  and  he  required 
that  he  should  be  put  into  his  hand,  declaring  to 
Wischart,  "  I  shall  not  only  preserve  your  body  from 
violence  if  any  be  intended  against  you,  but  I  will 
promise  you  on  my  honour  in  the  presence  of  these 
gentlemen  that  neither  the  Governor  nor  the  Cardinal 
shall  be  able  to  harm  you,  and  that  I  shall  keep  you 
in  my  own  power  till  I  either  make  you  free,  or 
bring  you  back  to  the  place  where  I  now  receive 
you."  Upon  this  promise  he  was  delivered  by 
Ormiston  into  the  Earl's  hands,  who  took  him 
straight  to  Elphinston,  where  the  Cardinal  was 
attending  the  successe,  who  immediately  sent  to 
apprehend  Ormiston,  Calder,  and  Brunston.  The 
latter,  if  not  as  thoroughly  bad  and  treacherous  a 
man  as  he  is  represented  by  Mr.  Tytler  to  have  been, 


130 

was  at  best  one  of  the  very  dubious  characters  of 
whom  there  were  too  many  in  those  melancholy 
times.  The  men  were  not  few  in  number  who,  under 
the  guise  of  religious  reformers,  sought  to  gratify 
personal  ambition  and  private  revenge,  and  still 
more  anxiously  to  grasp  some  of  the  spoils  of  the 
church.  There  were  but  very  few  of  its  dignitaries 
who  espoused  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  but 
one  or  two  did  so,  and  did  not  disdain  to  share  in 
the  plunder,  to  get  themselves  made  commendators 
of  the  religious  houses  of  which  they  had  been 
abbots,  and,  ruthlessly  turning  the  monks  out  to 
starve,  secure  the  broad  lands  belonging  to  their 
abbeys  for  their  descendants.  Brunston  had  been 
Cardinal  Beaton's  confidential  servant,  but  there  is 
much  reason  for  believing  that  he  carried  on  a  secret 
correspondence  with  Henry  VIII.,  and  offered  to 
procure  the  Cardinal's  assassination.  On  this  occa- 
sion, had  he  fallen  into  his  hands,  it  would  probably 
have  gone  hard  with  him,  but  he  managed  to  conceal 
himself  in  a  thick  wood.  Young  Cockburn  and 
Sandilands  were  taken,  and  committed  prisoners  to 
Edinburgh  Castle,  from  which,  however,  they  were 
sfoittis-hop  fortunate  enough  to  make  their  escape.  Few  days 
woode's  Hist,  passed  ere  the  well-known  tragedy  was  enacted  in 

of  the  Church       ,  ,       ..  _        .       .  °,       J     ,T_..    . 

of  Scotland,  the  courtyard  of  St.  Andrews,  where  Wishart,  a  man 
i- 1-  p- 165-  Of  »  primitive  sanctity  "  and  of  ancient  lineage,  ended 
his  day  in  that  fearful  manner  under  the  eyes  of  his 
persecutor.  "  A  barbarous  part  it  was  in  him,"  says 
Archbishop  Spottiswoode,  "to  sit  and  behold  the 
martyrdom,  taking  pleasure  in  that  which  no  man 
could  look  on  without  pity." 

On  the  28th  May  following,  on  that  very  balcony 
which   had    been    "hanged  with  tapestry  and   rich 


13* 

cushions  laid  for  ease  of  the  Cardinal  and  Prelates 
who  were  to  behold  the  spectacle  of  Wishart's  death, 
lay  the  body  of  Beaton,  hacked  with  swords."  Of 
this  murder  John  Knox  wrote  quite  jubilantly, 
terming  it  "  a  godly  fact."  This  expression  may  be 
fitly  taken  as  an  evidence  of  the  state  of  men's 
minds  at  this  time,  actuated  in  many  instances  by 
thirst  for  private  revenge,  and  a  false  zeal  for  reli- 
gion, which  seems  to  have  been  unfortunately  charac- 
teristic of  both  parties.  John  Knox  approved  of 
putting  Papists  to  death  by  fire.  Cardinal  Beaton 
had,  as  he  proved,  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  as 
to  the  best  method  of  dealing  with  heretics,  and  so 
burned  George  Wishart.  The  idea  of  religious 
toleration  had  not  entered  men's  minds.  The  large- 
hearted,  amiable  Queen  of  Scots  was  the  first  person 
to  whom  the  idea,  so  far  in  advance  of  the  time  in 
which  she  lived,  presented  itself.  John  Knox  says 
himself  "  that  the  bretheren  having  determined  to  put  -*"»<>•*  [Laing's 

i      •  11  •   i     r  i  i  Edit.],  vol.  ii., 

to  their  own  hands  to  punish  for  example  to  others.  p.  371. 
Mary,  fearing  for  the  lives  of  her  subjects,  sent  for 
him,  and  travailled  constantlie  with  him  for  two 
houris  that  he  would  be  the  instrument  to  persuade 
the  people,  and  principallie  the  gentlemen  of  the 
west,  not  to  put  handis  to  punishe  any  man  for  the 
using  of  themselfis  in  their  religion  as  pleased  them." 
For  the  fierce  fanatics  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Kirk  had  the  audacity  to  demand  "  that  all  Papis- 
tical! idolatry  be  universally  supprest  and  abolisht 
throwout  this  realme,  not  only  in  the  subjects,  but 
also  in  the  Queen's  own  person,  with  punishment 
against  all  persons  that  should  be  deprendit  to  trans- 
gresse  and  offend  in  the  same."  When  lying  at 
Jedburgh,  supposing  herself  on  her  deathbed,  "  the 

x 


132 


Proceedings  of 
the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of 
Scotland,  1880- 
1881,  p.  26. 

History  of 
Mary  Stewart, 
by  Claude 
Nau,  Note, 
p.  cxxxvii. 


Anderson's 
MS. 

Pitcaim's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  p.  340. 


declaration  of  the  will  of  the  most  mychtie  and  ver- 
teous  Princess  Marie,  Quene  of  Scotland,  Dowariare 
of  France,  duryng  the  tyme  of  her  extreame  maladie, 
with  the  praers  and  exhortations  used  by  her,  was 
recorded  as  addressed  to  the  nobles  present."  One 
of  her  injunctions  to  them  ran  thus — "  Ze  knaw  also, 
my  Lordis,  the  favour  that  I  have  born  onto  ze  since 
my  arrivying  in  this  reaulme,  and  that  I  have  presit 
nane  of  ze  that  professe  the  relygioun  by  zour  con- 
science ;  I  pray  ze  also  on  zour  part  not  to  presse 
them  that  makkis  profession  of  the  auld  faith  Catho- 
lique,  and  gif  ze  knew  quhat  yt  war  of  ane  person 
that  is  in  extremitie  als  I  am,  and  that  it  behuit  that 
he  may  rendre  compte  of  his  faltes  als  I  do,  ze  wald 
newir  presse  thame,  I  pray  ze  brother,  Erie  of 
Maurey,  that  ze  trouble  nane." 

The  family  of  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  and  the  old 
hall  of  Ormiston  come  to  be  mentioned  on  various 
occasions  in  these  times.  From  its  doors  went  the 
brave  Wishart  to  his  terrible  death  ;  and  in  con- 
sequence of  a  letter  said  to  have  been  found  there, 
another  unfortunate  victim  of  frenzied  bigotry,  or 
perhaps  private  animosity,  was  betrayed  to  his  doom. 

One  of  the  most  atrocious  of  the  many  judicial 
murders  was  that  of  Sir  John  Melvill  of  Raith,  at  the 
instigation,  it  is  said,  of  "  this  dreadful  Archbishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  Arran's  brother,  who  efter  the  Kingis 
death  ran  heid-longis  into  all  kinds  of  vice,  and  his 
lands  gevin  to  David  Hamilton,  the  Governor's 
younger  sone,  maid  the  punischment  more  filthie." 
He  was  an  old  gentleman  and  most  loyal,  but 
nevertheless  did  the  unfortunate  "  Lard  of  Raith 
most  innocentlie  suffer,  and  was  forfaulted  becaus 
that  he  writ  a  bill  to  his  sone  John  Melvin,  who  was 


133 

then  in  England,  which  was  alleged  to  have  been 
found  in  the  house  of  Ormestoun.  But  many 
suspectit  ye  prankis  and  craft  of  one  Rinzean 
Cokburn,  now  since  callit  Captane  Rinzean,  to  whom 
ye  said  lettre  was  delivered,  .  .  .  and  the  heid  of  the 
gentleman  was  stricken  from  him  in  the  year  1549." 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  insinuation  that  Ninian 
or  Rinzean  Cockburn  acted  treacherously  on  this 
occasion  is  a  mistake,  but  appearances  are  much 
against  him,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
questionable  character,  addicted  to  dangerous 
practical  jokes.  He  was  in  the  Scots  Guards,  and  The  Rev. 

Forbes- 

at    best    was    an    unworthy   representative    of  the  Leith's  Scots 


family,  many  of  whose  scions  had  during  centuries 

always  filled  their  positions  with  honour  in  that  force, 

of  which  it  is  recorded  "  that  for  so  long  a  time  as 

they  have  served  in  France  never  hath  been  one  of 

them   found  that  hath  committed  any  fault  against 

the  Kings  or  their  State."     It  appears  that  he  was 

frequently  on  leave,  and  sent  on  various  missions  to 

Scotland,  managing  to  get  well  paid  for  his  services. 

On  one  occasion  he  had  "  500  livres  tournois  [money 

coined  at  Tours]  pour  les  frais  et  d'espences  d'un 

voiage  que  le  diet  Seigneur  envoyait  faire  en  diligence 

et  sur  chevaulx  de  poste  de  Blois  en  Ecosse  passant 

par  Angleterre  portant  lettres  au  diet  Seigneur  con- 

cernant  ces  affaires  et  services  aux  Roynes  de  ces 

diet  pays."     It  is  to  be  feared  that  anything  entrusted  Frantisque- 

to  Captain  Ringan,  bearing  upon  the  welfare  of  the  E&tsuistn 

Queen    of  Scots,  was   in    very   unsafe  hands.     M.  Fra"f  vo1'  i-> 

Francisque-Michel,  in  his  interesting  work,  gives  an 

account  of  the  manner  in  which  he  behaved  to  Sir 

James  Melville  at  the  Court  of  St.  Germain's  in  May 

1553,  which  caused  Sir  James,  who  calls  the  said 


134 

Captain  "  un  brouillon,"  to  become  "  rouge  jusqu'  aux 
yeux,"  in  the  presence  of  the  "  Connetable "  [the 
title  borne  at  this  time  by  the  first  dignitary  of 
France].  He  had  tried  to  betray  Sir  James  into 
translating  a  slander  against  a  high  personage ;  but 
that  gallant  gentlemen  was  on  his  guard,  and  told  the 
High  Constable  in  spirited,  firm  language,  which 
could  not  fail  to  strike  the  statesman,  that  he  advised 
him  not  to  waste  time  in  listening  to  such  idle  stories 
as  Captain  Ringan's. 

It  does  not  look  well  for  the  said  Captain  Ringan, 
who  had  returned  in  his  old  age  to  live  in  his  native 
country,  that  in  1575  his  brother,  John  Cockburn  of 
Reg.  of  the  Ormiston,  had  to  give  security  that  he  would,  as 
voi.'xi.,  ^458.  Chamberlain  to  the  factor  of  the  Priory  of  Siennes, 
duly  account  for  the  redemption  money  of  certain 
lands  belonging  to  the  poor  sisters  of  the  convent. 
The  dissolution  of  this  religious  establishment, 
dedicated  to  St.  Catherine  of  Sienna,  had  been 
attended  with  great  cruelty  to  these  unfortunate 
ladies,  who  were  turned  out  to  starve,  until  Queen 
Mary  compelled  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to 
allow  sustentation  from  the  lands  with  which  their 
predecessors  had  endowed  the  convent. 

Reg.  Great  John  Cockburn  and  Alison  Sandilands,  his  wife, 

'  had  joint  charter,  5th  February  1545,  of  Le  Manis 
of  Ormiston,  with  the  old  hall  of  Ormiston  lying 
to  the  south  of  the  mansion  which  had  been 
settled  upon  his  wife  at  their  marriage.  This 
settlement  was  of  little  avail,  for  very  soon  after- 
wards his  estates  were  all  forfeited.  On  ad  Feb- 
ruary 1548  the  infant  Queen  of  Scots,  then  six 
years  old,  was  made  to  say  that  she,  having  learned 
the  great  services  done  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  of 
Branxholme  in  her  father's  reign  in  defending  the 


135 

kingdom  against  the  English,  granted  to  him  and  Res\  Gre,at. 

Seat,  vol.  iv.f 

his  wife,  the  Lady  Janet  Betoun,  the  tower,  fortalice,  NOS.  283, 284. 
and  manor  of  Ormiston,  with  its  gardens,  &c.,  in  R'&-  °f*he. 

£>  '  _  Privy  Seal, 

the   Queen's  hands,  by  reason  of  the  forfeiture  of  xxii->  fol-  88. 

John    Cockburn,    formerly    Lord   of  Ormiston,    for 

treason  and  other  crimes  imputed  to  him.     His  lands 

of  Craik  were   also  given   to  Sir  Walter  and  the 

Lady  Joneta  Betoun  on  the  same  day.     Sir  Walter 

does  not  appear  to  have  availed  himself  of  the  grant. 

On  26th  September  1549,  Arran  bestowed  the  gift 

of  the  escheat  of  Johne  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  upon  md.,  xxiii., 

his  brother  James  Hamilton.      In  1559  the  forfeited    °'39' 

laird  went  to  Berwick,  as  envoy  from  the  confederate 

Lords,    to    confer  with   Sir   Ralph    Sadler  and  Sir 

James  Crofts,  Captain  of  the  town,  to  try  and  get  a 

supply  of  money  for  their  immediate  requirements. 

The  workmen   had  gone  off  from  the  mint,  taking 

with  them  the  dies  and  other  necessaries  for  coining 

the  plate  and  jewelry  which  the  rebel   Lords   had 

collected  and  melted  down,  and  so  were  in  great 

straits  in  consequence.      On  his  way  back  he  fell 

into  an  ambuscade  laid  by  Bothwell,  and  was  wounded 

and  made  a  prisoner,  thus  losing  the  four  thousand 

crowns  he  had  managed  to  borrow. 

When  Mary  after  the  battle  of  Langside  trusted 
herself  to  the  faith  of  her  dearest  sister  and  cousin 
Elizabeth,    things  were   all    right  again  with  John 
Cockburn,    and    Ormiston    received   its    hereditary 
Lord.     The  lands  of  East  Craik  had  got  into  the 
possession  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  his  forfeiture  fell  to  the  Crown,  and  new 
charter  of  them  was  given  to  John  Cockburn  loth  Rig.  Gnat 
March    1574.       He   then    sold    this    estate    to    Sir  NO. '2205. 'V'' 
Walter  Scott  of  Howpasley. 


136 

It  had  never  been  a  very  comfortable  holding  for 

the  Cockburns,  though  not  plundered  latterly  as  it 

had    been    in   his   grandfather's   time.       The    1400 

Reg.  Deeds,      merks  balance  of  the  purchase  money  was  paid  by 

v^xv?,^     Sir  Walter   Scott    i6th   February   1566.     He  also 

I43-  sold  Boithill  or  Bold  to  David  Edington  of  Clary- 

barde,  in  the  Barony  of  Waughton,  County  Berwick, 

son  of  Edington  of  that  Ilk,  in  same  county.     But 

inquuit.         this  sale  appears  to  have  fallen  through,  as  his  son 

jure*.  Had-    Sir  John  was  served  heir  to  his  father  in  the  lands 

Ongton,  B.      of  Boithill,  County  Haddington. 

By  his  wife,  Alison  Sandilands,  he  had  three  sons, 
Alexander,  John,  who  succeeded  him,  and  Samuel ; 
and  three  daughters,  Sybil,  Alison,  and  Barbara. 

Alexander,  his  eldest  son,  died  unmarried  in  the 
prime  of  life.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
superior  and  most  accomplished  young  man.  In 
the  family  vault  at  Ormiston  Hall  a  tablet  records 
that  "  Hie  conditur  Alexander  Cockburn  primo- 
genitus  Johannis  Domini  Ormiston  et  Alisonae 
Sandilands  ex  perclara  familia  Calder,  qui  natus  1 3th 
Januarii  1535,  post  insignam  linguarum  professionem 
obiit  anno  setatis  28,  Calend.  Sept.  1563."  His 
many  admirable  qualities  are  also  set  forth  thereon, 
and  it  is  mentioned  that  he  travelled  much  through- 
out pleasant  [pergrata]  Britain  and  in  France,  more 
especially  as  it  is  expressed  in  that  part  of  "  Gaul 
subject  to  the  warlike  Helvetii,  where  he  perfected 
himself  in  the  languages  of  Rome,  Sion,  Athens,  and 
in  those  spoken  in  polished  [dicta]  France  and 
Germany."  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  gifted 
young  nobleman  had  not  lived,  and  inherited  the 
great  Durham  estates.  The  appellation  of  "  noble- 
man "  is  used  advisedly,  for  he  was  essentially  one 


'37 

also  by  birth.  His  paternal  descent  has  been  de- 
tailed, and  on  his  mother's  side  it  was  royal.  Her 
father  was  lineally  descended  from  Sir  James  Sandi- 
lands,  who  married  the  Princess  Johanna,  daughter 
of  King  Robert  II.,  and  this  Sir  James  was  the  son 
of  "Sir  James  the  Sandilands"  who  married  Devor- 
gilla,  daughter  of  John  Comyn  of  Badenoch  and  his 
wife  Marjory,  sister  of  King  John  Baliol. 

SAMUEL,  the  third  son  of  the  Laird  of  Ormiston,'  and 
his  elder  brother  John,  appear  to  have  distressed  their  father 
in  his  old  age  by  quarrelling  about  the  marches  between 
Tempillhall  lands,  which  he  had  given  to  the  former,  and 
Ormiston.  A  contract  was  made  2ist  May  1583  "between 
John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  Mr.  John  Cockburn,  his  eldest 
lawful  son  and  apparent  heir,  and  Janet  Home,  his  spouse,  on 
the  one  part,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Cockburn,  his  second  lawful 
son,  on  the  other  part,  &c.,  in  manner  following, — that  is  to 
say,  that  the  said  Laird  of  Ormiston  being  most  desirous,  and 
the  said  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  Samuell,  his  sons,  at  his  earnest 
desyre,  as  also  of  their  own  brotherly  love  and  affection 
moved,  and  willing  that  all  grudge  and  disdain  heretofore 
betwixt  them  shall  be  extinct,  buried,  and  removed  in  all  time 
hereafter,  and  that  they  may  live  and  abide  in  mutual  amity, 
friendship,  and  brotherly  favour,  concord,  and  charity,  as  it 
becomes  the  elder  and  younger  brethren  by  the  law  of  God 
and  Christian  brotherhood  to  do,  and  also  for  obeying  and  Keg.  of  Deeds, 
fulfilling  of  the  lawful  desyre,  mind,  and  will  of  their  said  vox 
father,  therein  tending  to  his  great  comfort,  their  great  and  fol.  53. ' 
singular  weill,  and  to  the  perpetuity  by  God's  good  grace  in 
favour  of  the  living  and  house  of  Ormiston,  that  the  same  may 
stand  in  all  time  coming,  as  it  has  pleased  the  eternal  God  of 
His  mercy  to  preserve  the  same  from  sundry  dangers  and 
troubles  byegone,— Mr.  John,  son  and  apparent  heir  foresaid, 
consents  by  these  presents  that  the  said  John  Cockburn,  his 
father,  may  and  shall  infeft  the  said  Mr.  Samuell,  his  heirs 
and  assignees,  in  All  and  Whole  the  half  lands  of  Tempillhall 
called  the  Wester  Tempillhall,  with  the  manor-place  thereof 
and  their  pertinents,  and  the  twenty  shilling  land  of  old  extent 
of  Huntlaw  and  Dryburgh  lands,  in  the  constabulary  of 
Haddington,  and  the  said  Mr.  Samuell  binding  himself  to 


138 


Reg.  of  Duds, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  xxviii., 
fol.  147. 


Ada  Domi- 
twrutn  Con~ 
cillii  et 
Stssionis, 
vol.  xiv., 
fol.  165. 


fni/uisil. 

Retorn. 

Abbrev., 

County 

Haddington, 

x.  316. 


resign  into  his  father's  hands  all  infeftments  and  rights  which 
he  had  from  him  in  the  lands  of  Harhied  and  Bowschiel  Hill, 
and  also  of  the  tower  and  lands  of  Ormiston,  that  the  said 
Mr.  John  may  enter  thereinto  after  their  father's  decease,  &c. 
Mr.  Robert  Park,  Provost  of  Trinity  College,  beside  Edin- 
burgh, and  one  of  the  Lords  of  Session,  was  witness  to  the 
agreement.  The  old  Laird  died  soon  after  this  date.  His 
sons,  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  Samuell,  did  not  rest  quite  in  peace 
regarding  their  lands,  and  it  became  requisite  to  have  an 
exact  determination  of  the  march  betwixt  the  lands  of  Easter 
and  Wester  Tempillhall  perteining  to  Mr.  Samuel,  and  the 
lands  of  Ormiston  perteining  to  Mr.  John,  and  anent  a 
contract  between  the  said  parties  and  Elias  Sandilands,  their 
mother,  the  relict  of  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  and  their 
respective  claims  upon  the  executory  of  the  said  John 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  and  the  said  Mr.  Samuel  taking 
burthen  upon  himself  for  Aleis  Cockburn,  his  daughter,  the 
aforesaid  parties  exoner  and  discharge  each  other."  John 
Cockburn  of  Clerkington  being  witness  thereto.  In  1540  Sir 
John  Campbell  of  Lundy  sued  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 
as  heir  of  the  late  William  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  his  father, 
for  the  profit  of  the  half-lands  of  Templehall  belonging  to 
him  in  tack  from  the  late  Lord  of  St.  John. 

Samuel  married  his  kinswoman  Elisabeth  Douglas;  they 
had  a  daughter  Sybil,  who  married  William  Innes  of  Sandy- 
side,  and  had  several  sons ;  one  of  them,  William  Innes,  had 
sasine,  as  co-heir  of  his  mother  Sybella  141)1  October  1629, 
of  an  annual  rent  of  400  merks  out  of  Ormiston  Barony,  and 
also  the  lands  of  Tempillhall,  in  the  regality  of  Torphichen, 
constabulary  of  Haddington. 

From  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  descended  families  of  the 
name  in  the  vicinity  of  Haddington,  who,  in  consequence  of 
the  intermarriages  between  their  pro- 
genitors of  the  families  of  Cockburn  and 
Douglas  of  Longniddry,  placed  a  man's 
heart  upon  the  fesse  point  of  their  shield, 
•IKtfe.  -^HBi  1  over  the  fesse  chequy  of  the  Lindsays,  as 
in  the  copy  opposite  of  a  seal  in  the 
possession  of  J.  Balfour  Cockburn,  Elm 
House,  Guernsey,  whose  ancestors,  from 
their  armorial  bearings,  were  doubtless  of 
this  branch  of  the  house  of  Ormiston. 


139 

IV.  SYBIL,  eldest  daughter  of  John  of  Ormiston,  married  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
Sir  William  Sinclair  of  Herdmanston.     Their  marriage-con-  voHx   foli'i 
tract  was  signed  26th  February  1566,  whereby  the  said  Sir 

William  Sinclair  and  Sybilla  Cockburn  bound  themselves  to 
complete  the  bonds  of  matrimony  between  that  date  and  the 
23d  day  of  April  next  to  come,  the  said  Sir  William  binding 
himself  to  infeft  the  said  Sybilla  Cockburn,  his  future  spouse, 
in  the  lands  of  Tempillfield,  the  third  part  of  the  Mains  of 
Pencaitland,  and  others,  "the  said  John  Cockburn  of 
Ormiston  binding  himself  to  obtain  the  relief  of  Sir  William 
of  his  marriage  at  the  hands  of  Sir  Richard  Maitland  of 
Lethington,  and  to  pay  him  and  the  said  Sybilla,  his  promised 
spouse,  the  sum  of  ^1000  in  name  of  tocher." 

In  the  remnant  of  the  old  chapel  erected  by  John  de  St. 
Clair  in  the  thirteenth  century,  near  the  present  house  of 
Herdmanston,  is  to  be  seen  the  tombstone  placed  to  the 
memory  "  of  ye  richt  Honoribil  Dame  Sibella  Cokburne,"  and 
beside  it,  that  of  "  ye  richt  Honorabil  Schir  William  Synclar, 
umqle  of  Herdmiston,  knyt,  quha  decessit  ye  2  of  June,  anno 
1594."  The  Sinclairs  have  possessed  Herdmanston  since 
1190,  when  Henricus  de  Sancto  Claro  obtained  the  estate. 

V.  BARBARA  married  George  Hamilton,  eldest  son  of  Ibid., 
Sir  David  Hamilton  of  Fingaltoun,  afterwards  designated  of  Jr°1-  "•' 
Preston,  whose  mother  Catherine  was  a  daughter  of  James 
Tuedy  of  Drummelzier.     Their  marriage-contract  was  dated 

3ist  May  1563.     Therein  the  said  George  bound  himself  to 

solemnize  the  bond  of  matrimony  between  that  date  and  the 

last  day  of  June  next  to  come,  and  the  said  David  bound 

himself  to  infeft  the  said  George  and  Barbara  in  the  five  pound 

land  of  Priestisgill,  in  the  barony  of  Avandaill  and  shire  of 

Lanark.     Sir  David,  son  of  Robert  Hamilton  of  Fingaltoun,   Reg.  Great 

got  Priestisgill,  in  Avandaill,  in  1541,  on  the  forfeiture  of  James  ^a*'  vol-  m>> 

Hamilton  of  Fynnart. 

George  and  Barbara  Hamilton  had  two  daughters.  Mary, 
the  youngest,  married  Robert  Cockburn  of  Butterdene,  of 
whom  further  mention  will  be  made  in  the  account  of  the 
family  of  Clerkington.  Joan  married  Alexander  Lindsay  of 
Dunrod.  The  will  of  "  Barbara  Cockburn,  Ladie  Prestoune," 
who  died  in  1610,  was  registered  in  the  following  year  by  Commiss.  of 
Robert  Cockburn,  co-executor.  Amongst  other  legacies,  she 

Y 


140 

left  to  Elizabeth  Livingstone,  her  granddaughter,  .£66  :  13  :  4  ; 
to  John  Cockburn  £100;  to  Robert,  her  son,  ^100  and 
two  furnished  beds ;  the  rest  of  her  furnished  beds  to  Lady 
Dunrod  and  her  daughter  Mary,  and  the  residue  of  her 
plenishing  to  them  and  her  son  Robert  Hamilton,  Samuel 
Cockburn  of  Tempill,  her  brother,  being  cautioner.  Poor 
Lady  Dunrod  would  be  thankful  for  the  beds  and  plenishing, 
Earl  of  Craw-  for  her  husband,  the  last  of  this  warlike  but  wild  race,  that  had 

^'lindsayf  flourished  for  centuries,  was  a  terrible  character.     The  history 

voL  ii.,  p.  290.  of  the  Lindsays  of  Dunrod  "  was  a  stormy  one,  in  perfect 

keeping  with  the  legend  attaching  to  the  memory  of  their 
ancestor  James  de  Lindsay,  Dominus  de  Dunrod,  1360,  the 
abettor  of  the  killing  of  the  Red  Comyn."  The  Earl  of 
Crawfurd  tells  the  sad  conclusion  of  the  career  of  one  who 
had  been  the  haughtiest  Baron  in  the  west  country,  and  who 
traditionally  is  said  never  to  have  ridden  from  home  without 
a  retinue  of  twelve  vassals,  mounted  on  gallant  white  steeds, 
attending  him.  He  at  last  came  to  eke  out  his  subsistence 
by  selling  favourable  winds  and  immunity  from  the  evil  one 
to  the  sea  captains  and  fishers  of  the  coast,  in  the  character 
of  a  warlock,  and  in  concert  with  some  reputed  witches 
amongst  his  former  cottars  at  Innerskip. 

"  In  auld  kirk  the  witches  ride  thick, 
And  in  Dunrod  they  dwell ; 
But  the  greatest  loon  amang  them  a' 
Is  auld  Dunrod  himsell." 

He  had  been  guilty  of  many  atrocious  crimes,  but  none  more 
dreadful  than,  when  playing  on  the  ice  on  one  occasion,  he 
ordered  a  hole  to  be  made  in  it,  and  one  of  his  vassals,  who 
had  inadvertently  offended  him  in  some  trifle,  to  be 
immediately  drowned.  If  Lindsay  and  his  female  friends 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Sir  John  Cockburn,  the  Justice- 
Clerk,  Barbara  Lady  Preston's  brother,  they  would  have  had 
short  shrift. 

John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  [Sir  John,  Archbishop 
Spottiswoode  calls  him]  died  in  1583.  He  was  a 
remarkable  man  in  many  respects,  a  dauntless  and 
most  intrepid  reformer,  conscientious  no  doubt,  but 
in  his  younger  days  utterly  carried  away  by  the 


HI 

vehemence  of  his  temperament,  which  led  him  to  act 
as  he  did  in  leading  the  destroying  army  of  Hertford 
into  the  heart  of  his  own  country.  One  regrets 
that  it  cannot  be  said  of  him  as  of  Lord  Home,  who 
was  at  one  time  on  the  Regent's  side,  that  he  after- 
wards was  loyal  to  his  unhappy  Queen,  "  and  showed 
himself  so  true  a  Scotsman  that  he  was  unwinnable 
to  England,  to  do  anything  prejudicial  to  his  country." 
The  will  of  "  Lady  Dame  Alison  Sandilands, 
auld  Lady  Ormiston,"  who  died  in  1584,  was  dated 
at  Woodheid  in  June  of  that  year.  In  it  she  named 
her  eldest  son,  who  had  been  married  for  some  years, 
her  only  executor. 


ix.    &ir  Joljtt  (Jlockburn  of  (Drmiston, 

a  prominent  figure  in  the  history  of  these  times,  was 
an  eminent  lawyer,  Senator  of  the  College  of  Justice, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  Lord  Justice-Clerk.     He 
was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  in  Ormiston,  and  a 
few  years  subsequently  —  6th  July  1590  —  in  Boithill 
and  the  mill  thereof,  in  the  shire  of  Edinburgh  and 
constabulary  of  Haddington.     He  married  first  Janet, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Home  of  Manderston,  County  Abbrev., 
Berwick,   who   gave  to    his  son-in-law,    "  Mr   John  md&n 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston,"  a  bond  for  ^4000.     There  B-  235- 
was  an  agreement  made,  24th  June  1584,  that  John  scftt  office, 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  and  Janet  Home,  his  spouse,  ^I'lSg"1' 
should,  on  payment  to  them  of  the  sum  of  12,000 
merks,  infeft  James  Ker,  son  to  the  deceased  Thomas 
Ker  of  Zair,  in  an  annual  rent  of  ^80  out  of  the  ibid.,  vol.  xi., 
lands  of  Muirhouse,  in  the  barony  of  Ormiston.     On   °'  3°5' 
the  i  yth  May  1567  he  agreed  with  his  father,  "  with 
the  consent  of  Elis  Sandilands,  his  mother,"  to  sell 


142 


Keg.  Dads, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  ix., 
fol.  85. 


Douglas' 
Peerage, 
vol.  i.,  p.  211. 


the  lands  of  Preston  [Peaston?]  to  Alexander 
M'Dougall  of  Stodrig.  These  lands  were  in  the  con- 
stabulary of  Haddington.  By  Janet  Home  he  had  a 
son,  Patrick,  and  four  daughters,  Margaret,  Catherine, 
Helen,  and  Jean. 

He  married  secondly  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir 
John  Bellenden  of  Auchinoule,  by  his  second  wife 
Janet  Seton.  Elizabeth  Bellenden  had  been  married 
before  to  James  Lawson  of  Humbie.  At  the  trial  of 
George  Forester,  sumtyme  servand  to  my  Lord  of 
Roxbrucht  [Sir  R.  Ker  of  Cessford,  created  a  Peer 
in  1600]  "for  coming  in  the  moneth  of  Januar 
jm  ye  anci  four  scojr  anci  fiftene  yeiris  to  the  house 
of  James  Skirving,  in  the  place  of  Humbie,  vnder 
the  silence  of  nyght,  betwix  aucht  and  nyne  houris 
at  even,  with  ane  sword  and  whyngare,  and  maist 
cruellie  persewit  him  for  hys  slauchter,  hurt  and 
woundit  him  in  his  rycht  hand  and  airm,  and  hes 
mutilat  and  made  him  impotent  in  the  samyn,"  it 
was  objected  "that  my  Lord  Justice-Clerk  and  his 
deputis  can  noch  be  clerks  in  this  process  because 
the  persuer  is  tennent  to  my  Lady  Humbie,  spouse 
to  my  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  and  payis  her  maill  and 
duty,  and  Mr.  Walter  Bellenden,  prolocutor  for  the 
pursuer,  is  brother-in-law  to  my  Lord  Justice- Clerk." 
On  20th  November  sasine  was  given  for  her  life  to 
"  Elizabeth  Bellenden,  relict  of  James  Lawson  of 
Humbie,  now  Lady  Ormiston  "  of  Ormiston  and 
Kirktonhall,  County  Edinburgh,  and  Muirhouse, 
County  Berwick.  On  2ist  May  1588  Lord  Boyd, 
Justice- Clerk,  certified  his  resignation  of  his  appoint- 
ments in  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston's  favour  in  the 
following  words—"  On  account  of  my  weaknesse  of 
body  be  ressoun  of  my  great  agge,  quhereby  I  am 


H3 

not  now  so  able  to  mak  continual  residence  in  ouer 
soveraine  Lordis  service  to  the  ordinar  place  of 
Secret  Council  and  extraordinar  place  of  Sessioun, 
as  I  was  wont  to  do  of  before  of  airnest  affection 
and  gud  will,  therefor  of  my  awn  free  will  and  at 
His  Majesty's  gentil  request,  resigns  the  place  in 
Privy  Council  and  Sessioun  to  John  Cokburn  of 
Ormiston,  of  whom  His  Majesty  hes  maid  special! 
choiss  to  serve  in  the  said  places  in  my  absence 
during  my  lifetime."  He  made  a  proviso  that  "  I, 
Lord  Boyd,  sail  half  place  and  be  free  to  occupy 
any  of  the  said  places  during  my  lyfe  tyme."  When 
the  time  arrived  that  Sir  John  Cockburn  himself 
was  incapacitated  by  the  infirmities  of  age  from  per- 
forming his  duties  in  these  offices  as  he  was  wont, 
he  had  no  inclination  to  follow  his  predecessor's 
example,  as  appears  from  the  following  record : — 
"  The  offices  of  the  Clerkschip  of  Justiciare-Generall 
and  Maister  of  the  Ceremonies  at  the  creatioun  of 
all  Erlis,  Lordis,  and  Barronis,  and  of  all  vther 
solemn  assembleis  quhair  honourable  ceremonies  ar 
accustomat  and  necessarie  to  be  vsit  within  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  &c.,  vacand  in  his  Maiestie's 
handis  be  dismissioun  of  Sir  Johnne  Cokburne  of 
Ormistoun,  Knyght,  last  Justice-Clerk  and  Maister 
of  the  said  ceremonies,"  were  given  6th  November 
1623  to  Sir  Archibald  Napier  of  Merchistoun.  It 
appears  that  the  old  gentleman  had  become  exces- 
sively infirm,  and  King  James  VI.  had  been  made 
aware  of  the  facts  as  set  forth  in  a  letter  to  Sir  John 
Murray,  a  protege  of  the  Earl  of  Morton,  and  a 
great  favourite  of  Court,  being  created  Viscount 
Annand  and  afterwards  Earl  of  Annandale.  "  Dis- 
mission "  was,  however,  a  hard  word  to  apply  to  Sir 


John  Cockburn's  case  ;  he  had  evinced,  doubtless, 
great  aversion  to  resign,  although  unfit  to  perform 
his  duties,  so  was  superseded. 

The  letter  was  from  Alexander  Colvile,  Justice- 
Depute,  and  was    to  the  following  effect : — "  Your 
Lordship  shall  be  advertized  that  he  who  is  presentlie 
Justice-Clerk  [the  lard  of  Ormestoun]  is  so  afflicted 
voi,  part  2,  with  extreame  aage,  blindness,  and  vther  infirmities, 
p-  595-  that  he  is  altogether  disinabled  ather  to  valk  abrod 

or  discharge  his  place ;  and  by  all  appearance  is  not 
long  to  survive.     And  because  it  concerns  me  so 
neir,  that  sereuis  His  Matie  as  Justice- Depute  to  be 
veil  and  ewill  yoked  in  cace  it  pleis  God   that    I 
lieue,  I  have  adventured  these  few  lynis,  being  con- 
fident of  zour  lo.  goodness  that  His  Matie  by  your 
lordship's    information    micht   be    better    prepared 
aganis   the   importunitie  of  vnfitt  suitors   for   that 
place,  quhilk  aucht  nocht  to  be  geivin  to  thois  that 
sutt  it,  but  to  thois  that  ar  vorthie  of  it.    And  as  the 
lywis  of  men  ar  mor  pretious  than  their  goods,  so 
lett  the  vorthiness  of  him  be  respected  to  quhome 
the  lywis  of  men  are  to  be  trusted.     .     .     .     Wee 
have  zit  in  memorie  of  ane  Thomas  Scot  of  Abbots- 
hall,  quho  was  Justice-Clerk  to  Kyng  James  Fyft  of 
happie  memorie,  quho,  being  stricken  with  a  terror 
of  conscience  at  the  hour  of  hys  death,  for  his  ewill 
cariage  in  that  place,  dyed  in  desperatione,  crying,  I 
am  damned,  I  am  damned  !     Zit  of  all  vthers  zoung 
men  and  men  of  great  clannis  ar  most  dangerous 
for  that  place.      Ceasing  farther  to  fasche  zour  lo. 
earis,  and  referring  all  to  your  Lo.  prudence  ;  vishing 
that  by  a  happie  electioun  of  such  ane  officiar,  God 
may   gett   glorie,    His    Matic  contentment,    and    the 
people  securitie  by  getting  right  quhen  their  lywes 


145 

shall  be  in  question,  &c.      I  rest  zour  Lo.  affectioned 
and  humble  seruitour,  A.  COLUILE." 

"  To  the  Right  honorabil  His  speciall  good  Lord, 
"  My  Lord  Viscount  Annan." 

It  could  not  be  objected  to  Sir  John  of  Ormiston 
that  in  his  office  of  Justice-Clerk  he  had  been  an  un- 
faithful or  lax  servant  to  King  James  in  carrying  out 
his  anxious  desire  to  extirpate  witches  and  warlocks 
from  his  realme,  as  expressed  by  the  Royal  author 
of  the  Doron  Basilicon  in  his  letter  dated  26th 
October  1591,  addressed  to  "Sir  John  Cokburn, 
Lord  Justice-Clerk,  from  the  King's  Majesty  with 
avyse  of  the  Lordis  of  the  Secret  Counsel!,  in  which 
he  has  givin  and  grantit,  and  be  thir  presentis  givis 
and  grantis  his  Hienes  full  power  and  commission, 
express  bidding,  and  charge  to  putt  to  tortour,  or  sic 
vther  punishement,  the  personis  willfull  or  refusand 
to  declare  the  veritie  regarding  all  accusit  and 
dilaitit  of  committing  witchcraft,  sorcherie,  inchant-  p;tcaim's 
ment,  and  vtheris  deyvilish  devyses,  &c."  His  ££"?• 
Majesty  especially  admonished  him,  as  set  forth  in  P-  2fil- 
his  book,  that  no  age,  sex,  or  rank  should  be  ex- 
empted from  punishment.  As  related  in  the  "  True 
Discourse  of  the  apprehension  of  sundrie  Witches 
lately  taken  in  Scotland,  whereof  some  are  executed 
and  some  are  yet  imprisoned,"  King  James  was 
present  at  various  examinations,  for  he,  "  in  respect 
of  the  strangeness  of  these  matters,  tooke  great 
delight "  therein.  The  confessions  made  on  this 
particular  occasion  made  his  sapient  Majesty  "  in  a 
wonderfull  admiration."  He  sent  for  Geillis  Duncane, 
who,  "  upon  the  like  trump,  called  a  Jew's  trump, 
did  play  the  same  before  him."  This  trump  was 


146 

that  with  which  it  had  been  confessed  "  she  did  goe 
before  Agnes  thompson  [Simpson]  and  a  great 
many  other  witches,  to  the  number  of  two  hundreth, 
voi.,  part  z,  playing  the  said  reill  or  short  daunce,  when  they  all 
pp-  214-25'-  Went  to  sea,  each  one  in  a  riddle  or  cive,  and  went 
in  the  same  very  substantially  with  flaggons  of  wine, 
making  merrie  and  drinking  by  the  way  in  the  same 
riddles  or  cives  to  the  kirk  of  North  Barrick  in 
Lowthian  ;  and  after  they  had  landed,  tooke  handes 
on  the  lande,  and  daunced  the  said  reill  or  short 
daunce,  singing  with  one  voice,  Commer,  goe  ye 
before,  &c."  Miserable  Agnes  "  was  tane  to  the 
Castle  Hill,  and  bund  to  ane  staik  and  wirreit  quhill 
she  was  deid."  It  does  not  appear  what  became  of 
the  lass  that  played  the  Jew's  harp. 

A  century  later  men  had  not  become  less  mad  on 
this  subject.  Sir  George  Mackenzie,  the  Lord 
Advocate,  incredible  as  it  seems,  declared  that  he 
deemed  witchcraft  the  greatest  of  crimes,  and  had 
arrived  at  the  logical  conclusion  that  the  lawyers  of 
Scotland  could  not  doubt  there  were  witches,  since 
the  law  ordanis  them  to  be  punished.  The  clergy 
and  kirk-sessions  appear,  Mr.  Pitcairn  observes,  to 
have  been  the  unwearied  instruments  of  purging  the 
land  of  witchcraft.  Under  their  directions  hundreds 
of  unfortunate  creatures  were  apprehended,  "witch's 
bridles"  and  other  inhuman  tortures  were  inflicted 
ibid.,  P.  50.  upon  them,  which  rendered  them  in  a  few  days  fit 
to  confess  anything,  in  order  to  be  rid  of  the  dregs 
of  their  wretched  life,"  even  though  it  was  to  be  by 
being  "  brint  to  ashes." 

If  Sir  George  Mackenzie  acted  as  adviser  in  the 
affairs  of  his  son-in-law  Archibald  Cockburn, 
younger  of  Langton,  and  his  father  Sir  Archibald, 


the  peculiar  arrangements  they  made,  In  total  dis- 
regard of  the  interests  of  their  successors,  are  not 
surprising. 

1.  MARGARET,    the   Justice-Clerk's   eldest    daughter,   Douglas' 
Patrick,  sixth  [more  properly  ninth]   Lord   Sinclair.     Their  ftrag', 
son  John  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estates. 

2.  CATHERINE  married  Sir  James  M'Gill,  Baronet  of  Ibid.,  p.  346. 
Cranstoun-Riddell,  created  Viscount  Oxfurd  in  1651.     Their 
daughter,  the  Honourable  Margaret  M'Gill,  married  Patrick 
Hamilton  of  Preston. 

3.  HELEN  married  William  Hay  of  Linplum.     The  will  Edinburgh 
of  "Helen   Cockburn,  Lady  Linplum,"   was  given  up  3ist  f^w«»£ 
January  1627  by  William  Hay,  skinner  burgess  of  Edinburgh,   vol.  54. 

4.  JEAN    married   her  kinsman   Sir  John    Murray    of  Douglas' 
Touchadam  ;  and  secondly,  Sir  William  Lauder  of  Haltoun.     Baronage. 

Sir  John   Cockburn,  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  died   in 
1623.      Patrick,  his  son  and  then  heir-apparent,  is  Commiss.of 
mentioned    in    two  deeds    dated    in  May   1582    as         ' 


receiving  from  Janet  and  Marion  Boyman  renuncia- 

tion to  his  father  and  himself  of  certain  rent-charges  Reg.  of  Deeds, 

upon  the  lands  of  Ormiston.    Little  mention  is  found  voi.  2'0;  part' 

regarding  him  ;  nor    is    his    wife's    name    recorded,  h/01'  455~ 

Predeceasing  his   father,   his  son   succeeded  to  the 

estates. 


x.  &ir  (Seorgc  Cockburn  of  Ormiston 

-was  retoured  heir  to  his  grandfather,  Sir  John,  the 
Justice-Clerk,  in  the  lands  and  barony  of  Ormiston 
nth  December  1628,  and  on  4th  February  1629  in  /»?«"'/• 
the  lands  of  Wester  Winschels,  in  the  barony  of 
Ellem,  County  Berwick.  He  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Sir  George  Touris  of  Inverleith, 

2  wick. 


148 

descended  from  "  Turio  Innerlethio,"  as  Hume  of 
Godscroft  styles  the  laird  who  married  a  daughter  of 
Sir  David  Home  of  Wedderburn.  A  more  distant 
ancestor,  Sir  George  Turis  or  Touris,  was  slain  at 
Otterburn.  Margaret's  father  had  sasine  Hth  May 
1605  of  "  Ouhitchester  in  baronia  de  Cauldstreme 
vie  Berwick."  By  her  Sir  George  Cockburn  had 
three  sons,  Robert,  who  died  young,  John  the  heir, 
and  George  ;  also  a  daughter — 

JEANE  COCKBURN,  married  to  Robert  Hepburne  of 
Keith  Marischall.  Their  marriage-contract  was  signed  at 
Ormiston  Hall  2d  April  1665.  It  was  made  with  consent  of 
her  eldest  brother  [designated  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  John 
Cockburn  of  OrmistonJ,  and  witnessed  by  Adam  Hepburne 
of  Humbie,  and  George  Cockburn,  brother-german  of  the  said 
Part.  Reg.  Sir  John.  The  liferent  of  Keith-Marischall  was  secured  to 

°Cffunt"effad  ^er>  an(^  sas'ne  was  given  of  trie  estate  to  Jeane  Cockburn, 

dingion,  \o\.  Lady  Hepburne,  gth  August  1655,10  secure  the  same.     In 

iii.,  fol.  124.  the  latter  deed  her  brother,    the   Laird,  is  styled  properly 

"  John  Cockburn,  now  of  Ormiston."  This  is  one  of  the 
many  instances  in  which  from  inadvertency  or  carelessness 
titles  are  given  to  persons  possessing  none,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  which  their  descendants  have  claimed  baronetcies 
which  were  never  created. 

GEORGE  COCKBURN,  the  second  son,  had  sasine 
2yth  November  1662  of  the  lands  of  Easter  and  Wester 

lUd.,  vol.  vi.,  Piltoun,  in  the  parish  of  Cramond,  County  Edinburgh.     He 

\  *°,;  J|y  was  tutor  of  Ormiston,  and  a  commissioner  for  the  county. 

The  annual  rent  out  of  the  barony  of  Innerleith,  in  the  parish 

of  St.  Cuthberts,  was  given  to  him  by  his  uncle,    William 

Touris  or  Towers,  Sir  George  of  Innerleith's  youngest  son. 

Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  In  1657  he  witnessed  the  sasine  of  his  brother  John  in 

Ormiston,  and  in  1680  the  resignation  by  Adam  Cockburn, 
now  of  Ormiston  [his  ward],  "  of  the  lands  of  West  Byres,  in 
the  parish  of  Ormiston,  to  William,  son  of  Sir  William 

/*»*.,  vol.  Thomson,  Town-Clerk  of  Edinburgh."     On  5th  April  1673 

xxxii.,  fol.  158.  "  George  Cockburn,  son  to  Sir  George  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 


149 

designed  George  Cockburn  of  Piltoun,"  gave  up  to  James  Part.  Reg. 
Haliburton  and  Thomas    Burnett   of  Innerleith  an   annual  °fSaslnes> 
rent  of  ,£320  out  of  the  barony  of  Innerleith.     The  deed  was  Haddi,i?ton, 
executed  at  Ormiston  on  24th  March  in  that  year.  vo1-  xx'-» 

These  notices  regarding  him  are  given  because  there  has  ° '  4°l- 
been  much  misconception  respecting  this  gentleman  and  his 
father,  who  have  both  been  overlooked  in  genealogies  of  the 
family.  This  seems  the  more  singular,  the  documents  in 
which  they  are  mentioned  being  so  numerous  and  distinct. 
On  loth  June  1682  sasine  was  given  on  charter  under  the 
Great  Seal  in  favour  of  "  Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  and  •#"'<£>  vol. 
his  heirs-male ;  whom  failing,  to  George  Cockburn,  lately  of  xxxv''  No'  4I- 
Piltoune,  his  uncle,  and  his  heirs-male,  &c. ;  whom  failing,  to 
the  eldest  lawful  daughter  [without  division]  of  the  said  Adam 
Cockburn  and  the  heirs-male  of  her  body ;  whom  failing,  to 
the  second  lawful  daughter  of  the  said  Adam  and  her  lawful 
heirs-male,  and  so  on  successively,  of  the  lands  and  barony  of 
Ormiston  and  the  west  field  of  Peaston,  &c."  In  another 
deed  George  Cockburn  of  Piltoune,  second  son  of  Sir  George 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  is  designated,  on  the  accession  of  his 
nephew  Adam,  "  next  heir  to  Ormiston  now  living." 

He  married  Mary  Stirling,  and  had,  with  several  daughters, 
George,  Archibald,  and  John.     The  baptism  of  this  youngest 
son  of  "  George  Cockburn,  son  to  the  deceased  Sir  George  Edin.  Reg. 
Cockburn  of  Ormistoun,  and  Mary  Stirling,  his  wife,    was  °f  BaPtisms- 
witnessed  i8th  January  1673  by  Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormes- 
toun."     Their  daughter  Jeane  married  James  Congleton  of 
Skedsburgh.     In  her  marriage-contract,  dated  i8th  January 
1689,    she    is    called   "eldest  lawful   daughter   of    George 
Cockburn,  son  to  Sir  George  Cockburn  of  Ormestoun."     She 
had  a  settlement  of  1200  merks  annually  out  of  the  lands  of  Part.  Reg. 
Mersington  and  Skedsburgh,  in   the   barony   of  Newtown,  °fSaslne^,. 

*  '  '    County  Edm- 

County    Haddington.     Her   brother   George   witnessed    the  burgh,  vol. 

deed.     He  married  Marie  Edgar,  and,  with  other  issue,  had  xlv->  ^ol-  '4°- 

a  son  George,  who  was  a  merchant  burgess  of  Haddington. 

George,  the  younger,  married  Margaret  Grant,  daughter  of 

James  Grant  of  Moyness,  with   consent   of  her  uncle   Sir 

George  Mackenzie ;  the  said  Sir  George  taking  burden  upon  md.,  vol.  xli., 

him  for  his  niece,  and  infefting  her  in  a  rent  of  900  merks  out  fo1-  378- 

of  the  lands  of  Easter  and  Wester  Barnes,  which  George  and 

Marie,  her  father  and  mother  [both  then  dead],  had  sasine  of 

from  George  Seaton  of  Barnes  in  1681.     It  is  not  within  the  Ibili:.'.  X0!' 

xx:uii.,fbl.453. 


'50 


Burke's 
Extinct  Peer- 
age, p.  300. 


Part.  Keg. 
of Sasines, 
vol.  Ixxviii., 
foL  26. 
Ibid., 

vol.  Ixxxii., 
fol.  49. 


Swintons  of. 
that  Ilk, 
Appendix, 
p.  175. 


limits  of  this  memoir  to  follow  all  the  branches  of  the  family 
who  may  have  descended  from  George  Cockburn  of  Piltoune ; 
the  notes  above  given  may  serve  to  assist  those  who  may 
hereafter  seek  to  trace  their  descent  from  the  house  of 
Ormiston.  Notice,  however,  must  be  made  of  a  well-known 
cadet, — that  styled  of  COCKPEN.  Some  have  regarded  the 
author  of  it  as  an  Archibald,  called  son  of  Adam,  Lord 
Ormiston  ;  but  there  is  no  record  of  the  Justice-Clerk  having 
a  son  of  the  name,  nor  could  the  date  of  his  birth  possibly 
correspond  with  that  of  the  Archibald  Cockburn  stated  to 
have  married  "  Robina  Fairholm,  cousin-german  of  Sophia, 
daughter  of  John  Fairholm  of  Craigiehall,"  who  married  in 
1682  William,  third  Marquess  of  Annandale.  [Her  mother 
was  also  a  Johnston,  being  daughter  of  Joseph  Johnston  of 
Hilton.]  It  appears  almost  certain  that  this  Archibald  was 
the  son  of  George  Cockburn  and  Mary  Stirling.  He  also  had 
a  son  Archibald,  designated,  as  he  himself  was,  "  merchant 
burgess  of  Edinburgh,"  who  married  in  1687  Isobell,  daughter 
of  John  Butler  of  Harperdean,  by  his  wife  Isobel  Swinton. 
On  2^th  October  1710  he  had  sasine  from  her  brother 
"  Robert  Swinton,  surgeon  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  of  the  lands 
of  Petercraig,  County  Haddington,  which  lands  formerly 
pertained  to  Peter  Butler  of  Harperdean,  or  to  the  deceased 
Peter  Butler,  his  father,  or  to  the  deceased  Peter  Butler,  his 
grandfather,  or  one  or  other  of  them,  who  died  vest  and 
seased  in  the  same,  and  were  adjudged  from  them  at  the 
instance  of  the  deceased  Mr.  Robert  Swinton  and  James 
Congleton  of  Skeithbush  [or  Skedsburgh],  and  assigned  to  the 
aforesaid  Robert  Swinton,  surgeon  in  Edinburgh."  Adam 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston  is  witness  to  this  charter.  This 
Robert  was  most  probably  a  descendant  of  the  "  Robertus 
Suyntoun  off  Musselbruch,"  mentioned  as  there  in  1619. 
Petercraig  or  Peddercraig  was  settled  on  Helen  Cockburn, 
•daughter  of  John  of  Ormiston,  and  her  husband,  Alexander 
Gourlay,  in  1491.  Harperdean  was  an  old  possession  also 
of  the  family.  James  Cokburn  off  Herperdene  appears  as 
owner  in  1527,  and  George  Cockburn  of  Piltoune  had  a  rent- 
charge  upon  it  of  ^300  a  year.  Sasine  on  charter  under  the 
Great  Seal  in  favour  of  "  Archibald  Cockburn,  merchant  and 
late  bailie  of  Edinburgh,"  of  Petercraig  and  Harperdean,  was 
given  1 6th  October  1713.  Archibald  and  Isobel  had  likewise 
a  son  Archibald,  who  purchased  Cockpen.  On  2oth  May 


1 733,  sasine,  proceeding  on  charter  under  the  Great  Seal,  was 
given  in  favour  of  "  Archibald  Cockburn,  merchant  of  Edin- 
burgh, of  the  lands  of  Cockpen,  with  tower,  fortalice,  &c.,  in 
the  parish  of  Dalhousie."  On  2oth  May  1735  was  given 
"  sasine  on  disposition  by  Robert  Rocheid  of  Masterton,  with 
consent  of  Agnes  Murray,  his  spouse,  to  Archibald  Cockburn, 
merchant  in  Edinburgh,  of  the  lands  of  Masterton,  in  the 
parish  of  Newbottle."  He  married  i7th  August  1735 
Martha,  daughter  of  Robert  Dundas,  Lord  Arniston, 
President  of  the  Court  of  Session  [who  died  in  1727],  by  his 
wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Sinclair,  third  Baronet 
of  Stevenson,  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  and  a  Privy  Councillor, 
by  his  wife  Helen,  daughter  of  John,  fourteenth  Earl  of 
Crawford.  Margaret's  aunt,  Marion  Sinclair,  was  the  wife  of 
Sir  Archibald  Cockburn  of  Langton.  On  2d  November  1736 
was  noted  sasine  "  following  on  marriage-contract  between 
Archibald  Cockburn  of  Cockpen  and  Martha  Dundas,  in 
favour  of  the  latter,  infefting  her  in  liferent  of  the  lands  of 
Cockpen,  &c.,  as  the  same  were  purchased  by  the  said 
Archibald  Cockburn  at  a  public  roup  before  the  Lords  of 
Council  and  Session,  and  also  of  liferent  of  300  merks  out  of 
the  lands  of  Masterton."  John  Cockburn,  brother-german  of 
said  Archibald,  witnessed  the  deeds. 

Cockpen,  which  in  1320  belonged  to  Sir  Edmund  de 
Rameseye,  was  still  possessed  by  his  descendants  in  1560, 
when  James  Ramsay  was  designated  of  Cockpen.  Before  it 
was  regained  by  the  House  of  Dalhousie,  Cockpen  was  for 
a  time  also  the  property  of  a  family  named  Carss.  On  i5th 
March  1693  Marcus  Carss  de  Cockpen  was  served  "hseres 
domini  Marci  Carss  de  Cockpen  patris."  This  "Laird  of 
Cockpen  "  had  a  good  estate  also  in  Roxburghshire.  By  his 
wife,  Martha  Dundas,  Archibald  Cockburn  had  a  large 
family.  With  four  daughters,  Anne,  Agnes,  Robina,  and 
Sophia,  they  had  five  sons — Robert  died  young,  Archibald, 
James,  John  a  Captain  R.N.,  and  George,  who  settled  in 
Ireland,  and  was  designated  of  Shanganah  Castle,  County 
Dublin.  His  son  by  his  wife  Anne  Caldwell  [sister  of 
Admiral  Sir  Benjamin  Caldwell,  G.C.B.],  General  Sir  George 
Cockburn,  K.C.B.,  married  Elisabeth  Rial,  and  had  a 
daughter  Catherine,  married  to  Captain  Gawen  Hamilton, 
R.N.,  C.B.,  son  of  Archibald  Hamilton-Rowan  of  Killyleagh 


Part.  Keg. 
of  Sasines, 
Edinburgh, 
vol.  cxii., 
fol.  349. 

Ibid.,  vol.  cxv., 
No.  327. 


Edin.  Reg.  of 
Marriages. 


Part.  Reg. 
of  Sasines, 
vol.  cxvii., 
fol.  \i\\. 


Acts  and  De- 
creets,  vol.  xx., 
fol.  253. 


Inquisit, 
Retorn.,  No. 
7344- 


Gentleman's 
Magazine, 
Nov.  1847. 

Burke's 
Landed 
Gentry,  vol.  i., 
p.  720. 


152 


Sunnlons  of 
that  Ilk,  p. 
III. 


Nisbefs 
Heraldry, 
p.  289. 


Castle,  County  Down.  Their  son  Archibald  Rowan  Hamil- 
ton of  Killyleagh  was  High  Sheriff  of  that  county,  and  left  by 
his  wife  Catherine  Caldwell  a  son,  Gawen  Rowan  Hamilton, 
present  proprietor,  and  a  daughter,  Hariot  Georgina,  married 
to  the  Earl  of  Dufferin. 

Archibald  Cockburn,  eldest  surviving  son,  inherited 
Cockpen.  He  was  a  Baron  of  Exchequer  and  Judge  Ad- 
miral  for  Scotland.  Born  in  1736,  he  died  in  1820,  having 
married  Janet,  younger  daughter  of  David  Rannie  of  Leith, 
who  bought  Melville  Castle,  County  Edinburgh.  The  elder 
daughter  and  heiress,  Elisabeth  Rannie,  married  Henry 
Dundas  [brother  of  Martha,  Archibald  Cock  burn's  wife],  who 
was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Viscount  Melville.  Baron 
Cockburn,  who  sold  Cockpen  in  1785  to  Lord  Dalhousie, 
had  a  large  family  by  his  wife  Janet  Rannie.  One  of  his 
daughters,  Matilda,  married  Sir  Robert  Dundas  of  Beech- 
wood  and  Dunira;  another,  Elisabeth,  married  Thomas 
Randall  Davidson  of  Muirhouse.  Subsequent  connections 
between  the  Swintons,  the  Rannies  [who  were  wine  merchants 
in  Leith],  and  the  Davidsons  of  Muirhouse,  are  to  be  easily 
followed  by  reference  to  Mr.  Campbell-Swinton  of  Kimmer- 
ghame's  valuable  work.  The  eldest  son  of  Baron  Cockburn, 
Archibald,  died  s.p. ;  the  second  was  the  celebrated  Henry 
Cockburn  of  Bonally,  whose  virtues,  talents,  brilliant 
eloquence,  and  genial  character  added  new  lustre  to  the 
name  of  Cockburn.  Distinguished  as  so  many  of  the 
families  of  Ormiston  and  Clerkington  were  on  the  bench,  and 
the  near  relatives  of  the  latter,  the  Maitlands  of  Lethington, 
none  of  them  ever  entered  the  Parliament  House  so  generally 
beloved,  as  well  as  admired,  as  Henry  Lord  Cockburn.  He 
was  born  in  1779  and  died  in  1833,  having  married  Elisabeth 
M 'Do wall,  a  daughter  of  that  ancient  historic  race,  M'Dowall 
of  Garthland,  descended  from  the  old  Lords  of  Galloway. 
By  her  he  had  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  Her  two 
sisters,  Georgina  Hay  and  Isabella  Graham,  married  respec- 
tively John  Lord  Fullerton,  and  Thomas  Maitland  of  Dun- 
drennan,  Lord  Dundrennan,  also  Senators  of  the  College  of 
Justice.  It  was  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  husbands  of 
the  three  sisters  should  all  have  been  upon  the  bench. 
Robert,  the  third  son  of  Baron  Cockburn,  married  Mary 
Duff,  and  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  John,  the 


fourth  son,  married  Eliza,  daughter  of  James  Dewar  of 
Vogrie,  and  had  seven  sons  and  six  daughters.  One  of  his 
sons,  General  Henry  Alexander  Cockburn,  married  Lucy 
Margaret,  daughter  of  General  Auchmuty  Tucker,  C.B.,  and 
has  issue. 

Sir  George  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  died  in   1654  ;  Commist.of 
his   wife   in    1636.     The   will   of   Dame    Margaret 
Touris,  sometime  spouse  to  Sir  George  Cockburn  of 
Ormiston,  was  registered  25th  March  1637. 


xi.     30f)ti   €0ckburn  0f    Ormiston 

was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  in   1654  in  the  lands 

and  barony  of  Ormiston,  County  Haddington,  and 

in  the  lands  of  Woolstruther,  County  Berwick.      He 

married  in  1643  Janet,  daughter  of  Sir  Adam  Hep- 

burn of  Humbie,  and  had  two  sons,  John  and  Adam, 

and  four  daughters  —  Jean,   born   in    1648,   married 

Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkington  ;  Agnes,  born  in 

1649,    Margaret    in    1650,    and    Barbara    in    1653. 

She  married  Henry  St.  Clair,  eighth  Lord  Sinclair,  Burke's 

who  is  stated  to  have  married  Grizel,  daughter  of  Dougfas' 

Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Cockburn,  in   1680,  and  to  Peera?e< 

have  had  by  her  a  number  of  children.     This  James 

Cockburn  had  by  his  wife  Grizell  Hay  a  very  large  Edin,  Reg.  of 

family.     One  daughter,  named  Grissell,  was  born  in  Battlsms- 

1666.     She  seems  to  have  died  young,  for  they  had 

another  daughter  also  called  Grissell  born  in   1674. 

It  is  evident   that  neither  could    have  been    Lord 

Sinclair's  wife.     In  the  "  Edinburgh  Register  of  Bap- 

tisms "  the  following  records  appear  :  —  "  i4th  January 

1685.      Harie,    Lord    Sinclair,   and    Dame   Barbara 

Cockburn,  his  wife,  a  daughter  Catherine  ;"  and  on 

"  25th  January    1688,    Henry,    Lord    Sinclair,    and 

Dame     Barbara    Cockburn,    his    wife,    a    daughter 

Margaret." 


154 


Inquisit. 
Rctorti. 
Abbirv.,  xx., 
itt. 


xii.    3oljn    €ockbuvn     of     ©rmiston 

succeeded  his  father.  His  retour  is  recorded  as 
heir-male  of  his  father,  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 
in  Ormistoun  and  Woolstruther,  also  in  that  part  of 
Peaston  barony  called  Westfield.  He  died  soon 
after  his  succession  to  the  estates,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother. 


Part.  Reg. 
of  Sasints, 
vol.  20, 
fol.  242. 

Inquisit. 
Rttorn. 
Abbrtv., 
County  Had 


12. 


xiii.   3Voam    Cockburn   of   (Drmiston 

was  retoured  heir  to  his  brother  John  28th  December 
1671.  Sasine  of  the  estates  was  given  I2th  June 
1672  on  precept  from  Chancery.  This  very  able 
lawyer  made  himself  famous  in  that  hall,  outside  the 
doors  of  which  stood  the  statues  of  Justice  and 
xxxi.,  Mercy.  From  all  one  can  gather  from  history,  the 
latter  was  not  the  quality  which  particularly  dis- 
tinguished the  judges  of  that  time,  any  more  than  it 
did  their  predecessors  ;  nor  were  their  successors  for 
a  long  time  considered  to  be  swayed  very  much  by 
either  influence.  Pointing  to  the  effigy  of  the  former, 
an  old  Jacobite  laird,  when  invited  by  the  amiable 
and  brilliant  Harry  Erskine  [as  his  bonhomie  caused 
him  to  be  familiarly  styled]  to  come  with  him  inside 
the  Parliament  House,  wittily  said,  "  Nae,  nae,  I  '11 
no  enter  there!  Tak  the  Leddy  Justice  wi'  ye. 
Puir  thing,  she's  stood  lang  at  the  door,  and  it  wad 
be  a  treat  to  her  to  see  the  inside  like  other 
strangers  ! " 

Adam,  who  took  the  designation  of  Lord  Ormiston 
when  appointed  to  the  bench,  became  in  1692  Lord 
Justice-Clerk.  This  office,  as  has  been  recorded, 
was  held  by  his  ancestor  a  century  before.  Lord 


155 

Ormiston  had  his  share  of  troubles  during  his  official 

life,  and  made  himself  hated  throughout  the  country 

by  his  severity  towards   the    Jacobites, — "  sparing  jaeoUte  Reius, 

in  his  vindictive  persecution  of  all  he  deemed  enemies     oggl  p'  23°" 

to  the  established  government  of  church  and  State 

neither  sex,  age,  or  quality,  but   like   Jehu   drove 

always  furiously  on,  and  by  this  means  preserved  his 

interest  at  Court."      His  being  a  bigoted  Presby-  Lockhart's 

terian   recommended   him   to  King  William.     The  P.  129. 

motive  attributed  may  be  a  very  unfair  suggestion, 

but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  epithet  applied  to  him 

of  "  the  curse  of  Scotland  "  was  not  undeserved,  and 

so  strong  was  the  feeling,  that  ladies  playing  the 

nine  of  diamonds  were  now  in  the  habit  of  calling  it  Houston's 

the  Justice-Clerk.  p/gsT™ 

He  was  without  doubt  an  excessively  hot-tempered 
imperious  man,  but  no  one  doubted  his  integrity  and 
ability.     His  appearance  was  strongly  in  his  favour, 
and  his  manners  were  refined  and  pleasing.     There  Mack/s 
was    a    bitter     animosity    betwixt     him     and    the  p/^T' 
Earl  of  Hay,  Governor  of  Scotland,  and  the  Lord 
Advocate,    Sir     David     Dalrymple.     The    quarrel 
culminated  in  a  personal  encounter,  which  resulted 
in  a  scene  similar  to  that  which  took  place  in  the 
wig-pulling  battle  between  Sir  Robert  Walpole  and 
Lord  Townshend.     The  Earl  of  Hay,  who  succeeded 
as  third  Duke  of  Argyll,  wrote  in  1715,  "There  has  Chalmers' 
happened    an    accident    which    will    suppress    the  foU^T^o, 
Justice-Clerk's   fury   against   me,   for    he  and    the  an<iNote. 
King's  Advocate  have  had   a  corporal  dispute — I 
mean  literally,  for  I  parted  them." 

Lord  Ormiston,  who  sat  in  Parliament  as  Member 
for  Haddington  in  1685,  married  first  Lady  Susanna 
Hamilton,  third  daughter  of  the  fourth  Earl  of 

A  I 


Kulherfurds 
of  that  Ilk, 
p.  Ixx.,  and 
Chart  Pedi- 
gree. 


Douglas' 
Peerage,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  88. 


Birth  Brief 
Records,  vol. 
vii.,  fol.  74. 


156 

Haddington,  and  by  her  had  Adam,  baptised  2Oth 
February  1696,  and  died  young,  John,  his  heir, 
baptised  2Oth  February  1698,  Patrick,  and  Charles, 
and  three  daughters,  Anne,  Elizabeth,  and  Christian. 

PATRICK,  the  second  son,  married  in  1731  Alison 
Rutherford,  of  the  Fairnilee  family,  who  was  so  much  noted 
for  her  abilities  and  personal  charms. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  speaks  of  her  with  the  greatest  admiration, 
"  as  a  lady  whose  memory  will  be  long  honoured  by  all  who 
knew  her."  They  had  one  son,  Patrick,  who  died  unmarried. 

CHARLKS,  the  third  son,  called  of  Sandybed,  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  Haldane  of  Gleneagles,  who 
entailed  upon  her  and  her  descendants  portion  of  the  ancient 
Lennox  estates,  which  had  descended  to  him  in  right  of  his 
ancestress,  Margaret,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Duncan,  Earl  of 
Lennox,  who  married  Menteith  of  Burley,  and  had  a  daughter 
Agnes,  married  in  1460,  to  John  Haldane  of  Gleneagles. 

They  had  a  son  George,  called  also  of  Sandybed,  who 
succeeded  to  Gleneagles,  and  under  the  provision  of  the 
entail  assumed  the  name  of  Haldane.  The  Haldanes  of 
Gleneagles  held  an  important  position  in  Scotland  ever  since 
the  time  of  Robert  THE  BRUCE,  in  whose  reign  Ayelmer  de 
Hauden,  County  Roxburgh,  married  the  heiress  of  Gleneagles. 
George  Cockburn  was  not  destined  to  establish  a  lasting 
branch  of  the  race  of  Ormiston  under  the  name  of  Haldane. 
He  died  in  1799,  and  his  son,  an  only  child,  in  the  same 
year.  The  estate  of  Sandybed  had  belonged  to  the  Cock- 
burns  for  some  time.  The  house  stood  close  upon  the  bank 
of  the  small  River  Tyne,  and  it  was  here  that  Bothwell,  fol- 
lowing up  the  bed  of  the  stream,  hid  himself.  Getting  into 
the  house  by  the  back  door,  he  changed  clothes  with  the  man 
performing  the  office  of  turnspit  in  the  hospitable  mansion, 
and  remained  there  for  some  days,  performing  the  duties  of 
that  menial.  For  the  protection  afforded  to  him  he  gave 
George  Cockburn,  the  then  laird,  a  perpetual  ground-annual 
out  of  the  Mainhill,  County  Haddington,  which  was  enjoyed 
by  his  descendants,  and  sold  along  with  the  property  of 
Sandybed  by  George  Cockburn,  called  Haldane,  to  Buchan 
of  Lethame,  who  conveyed  it  to  the  Earl  of  Wemyss. 


157 

ANNE,   eldest  daughter  of  Lord  Ormiston,  married  Sir 
John  Inglis,  sixth  Baronet  of  Cramond,  Postmaster-General   Douglas' 
for  Scotland,  who  settled  upon  her  by  their  marriage-contract,   2^0""se'  p' 
dated  24th  June   1708,  "made  with  consent  of  her  father, 
Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  and  one  of 
the  Senators  of  the  College  of  Justice,"  3000  merks,  and 
25,000  merks  in  event  of  their  having  children,  out   of  the  part  Reg 
lands  of  King's  Cramond.    Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington,   ofSasines,  vol. 
John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  Mr.  Charles  Cockburn,  advo-  xcii"  fo1' l64' 
cate,  and  John  Hepburn  of  Humbie,  were  witnesses. 

CHRISTIAN,  the  youngest  daughter,  married  Sir  Robert  Douglas' 
Sinclair,  third  Baronet  of  Longformacus.      Their  daughter  Baronage,  p. 
Jean  married  Sir  Charles  Gilmour  of  Craigmillar. 

Adam,  Lord  Ormiston,  married  secondly  Anne, 
daughter  of  Sir  Patrick  Houston  of  Houston.  They 
had  a  daughter  Jeane,  baptised  agth  March  1709, 
who  married  William  Walker,  and  died  at  Kelso,  in 
the  eighty-fourth  year  of  her  age,  25th  June  1792. 
Her  mother  had  been  married  twice  before  she 
became  the  wife  of  the  Justice-Clerk — first  to  Sir 
James  Inglis  of  Cramond,  who  died  in  his  twenty- 
ninth  year  in  1689  ;  secondly,  to  Sir  William 
Hamilton  of  Whitelaw,  who  was  a  Lord  of  Session 
and  also  Justice-Clerk.  He  died  in  1704.  Anne 
Houston,  Mrs.  Cockburn,  died  herself  in  1721.  Her 
husband  Adam,  Lord  Ormiston,  died  in  1735,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son. 

xv.  #ol)tt    Cockburn  of  (Drmiston. 

This  very  able  and  public-spirited  gentleman  was 
the  first  representative  of  East  Lothian  in  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  after  the  Union,  and 
continued  to  hold  his  seat  until  1741.  He  was  also 
for  a  long  time  a  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  For 
himself,  and  for  the  interests  of  his  family,  it  would 
have  been  well  had  he  been  satisfied  with  a  political 


Chambers' 
Biography, 
vol.  i.,  p.  544. 


Douglas' 
Peerage, 
voL  i.,  p.  755. 

Scots  Maga- 
zine for  year. 


158 

life;  but  unfortunately  he  was  an  enthusiastic 
agriculturist,  and  has  been  called  the  father  of 
Scottish  husbandry.  His  father,  the  Lord  Justice- 
Clerk,  had  made  the  first  attempts  at  introducing  a 
new  system  of  long  leases,  and  let  one  of  his  farms 
for  a  term  of  eleven  years,  and  his  tenant,  Robert 
Wight,  thereupon  commenced  to  enclose  his  fields,  a 
proceeding  quite  novel  in  Scotland. 

His  son  scorned  all  his  own  immediate  interests 
for  the  sake  of  what  he  deemed  the  general  good, 
and  gave  long  leases  to  the  tenants  of  great  part  of 
his  estates  upon  very  low  rents.  He  also  started  a 
linen  manufactory,  a  brewery,  a  distillery,  and  a 
bleaching-field,  bringing  over  artisans  from  Holland 
to  instruct  his  people  at  Ormiston.  But  the  un- 
fortunate result  of  his  spirited  and  enterprising 
undertakings  was  that  he  was  ruined,  and  Ormiston 
had  to  be  sold.  It  became  the  property  of  the 
Hopes,  Earls  of  Hopetoun. 

John  Cockburn  married  first  in  1700  Lady 
Beatrix  Carmichael,  daughter  of  John,  first  Earl  of 
Hyndford,  Chief  Secretary  for  Scotland,  by  whom 
he  had  no  children.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  a 
son  George,  at  whose  house,  in  the  Navy  Office  in 
London,  he  died  on  i2th  November  1758. 

xvi.  flkorge    OTockburn  of   (Drmiston 

was  a  Captain  in  the  Navy,  and  in  1 750  Commis- 
sioner and  Comptroller  of  His  Majesty's  Navy,  which 
office  he  held  until  his  death.  He  married  Caroline, 
Baroness  Forrester,  eldest  daughter  and  heir  of 
George,  fifth  Lord  Forrester,  and  had  two  daughters, 
Anna  Maria  Cockburn,  who  succeeded  her  mother 
as  Baroness  Forrester  in  1784,  and  died  at  Bedge- 
bury  Park,  County  Kent,  in  1808,  and  the  Honourable 


'59 

Mary  Cockburn,  who  married  the  Rev.  Charles 
Shuttleworth.  She  died  before  her  sister,  without 
issue.  The  title  on  her  death  went  to  Baroness 
Forrester's  cousin  James  Luckyn,  called  Grimston, 
third  Viscount  Grimston,  created  Earl  of  Verulam  in 
1815.  On  the  loth  December  1747  was  signed  the  Mackenzie's 
disposition  "  by  George  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  ^llu. vol> 
whereby  for  the  sum  of  ;£  12,000  sterling  he  sells  to 
John,  Earl  of  Hopetoun,  heritably  and  irredeemably, 
All  and  Whole  the  parts  of  the  barony  of  Ormiston 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Tyne,  comprehending  the 
town  of  Ormiston,  &c.  &c.,  with  right  of  weekly 
market,  as  granted  to  the  late  John  Cockburn,  his 
granduncle,  by  Act  of  Parliament  23d  December 
1649,  &c.  &c.,  and  an  infeftment  upon  the  whole 
barony  of  Ormiston,  granted  by  John  Cockburn, 
father  of  said  George,  to  the  late  Charles,  Earl  of 
Hopetoun,  for  ,£10,000,  of  date  i4th  May  1739;" 
and  by  a  second  disposition,  dated  8th  September 
1 749,  "  the  said  George  Cockburn  sold  to  the  said 
Earl  All  and  Whole  the  remaining  portions  of  the 
barony,  with  the  manor-place  of  Ormiston,  &c.,  for 
;£  1 0,200."  A  very  few  years  afterwards  Langton 
also  passed  from  the  Cockburns,  both  families 
being  effaced  by  the  enterprising  but  fatal  operations 
of  gentlemen  farmers. 

Captain  George  Cockburn,  who  no  doubt  with 
bitter  regret  signed  the  deeds  alienating  the  heritage 
which  had  come  down  to  him  in  uninterrupted 
succession  from  John  de  Cokburn  and  Joneta 
Lyndessay,  his  wife,  married  in  1370,  died  exactly 
four  hundred  years  after  that  event. 

Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount  gives  the  arms 
of  Ormiston  in  1 542,  "  argent  three  cocks  gules,  within 


i6o 


a  dordure  gules!'  Workman  gives  them  argent  or 
fesse  chequy  azure  and  of  the  field,  between  three 
cocks  gules,  which  coat  was  registered  in  the  Lyon 
Office  by  Adam  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  Lord 
Justice-Clerk  in  1672,  and  was  the  one  usually 
adopted  by  the  descendants  of  Janet  Lindsay,  heiress 
of  Ormiston,  the  fesse  chequy  being  borne  to  indicate 
the  descent  from  the  Lindsays. 

Crawfurd  gives  another  variation  of  the  bearing, 
i.e.,  argent  three  cocks  gules  within  a  bordure  com- 
pony,  azure  and  argent.  Porteous  says  a  border 
chequy,  but  the  fesse  was  the  oldest  and  most 
commonly  used  blazon.  The  crest  of  the  Ormiston 
family  was  the  same  as  that  of  Langton,  a  cock 
proper,  the  motto  "  In  dubiis  constans."  Nisbet  gives 
them  supporters  also  the  same  as  those  of  the  chief. 
Perhaps  the  Lords  Justice-Clerk  used  these  orna- 
ments, but  they  are  not  recorded  in  the  Lyon  Office 
Register. 


Coat  of  Adam  Cockburn,  Lord  Ormiston,  1672. 


COCKBURN  OF  HENDERLAND, 

PEEBLESSHIRE. 


Cockburn  of  Henderland, 
1380. 


As  blazoned  by  Sir  David 
Lindsay  of  The  Mount,  1542. 


I.  p0r0  be  Cokblirn,  third  son  of  Alex- 
ander de  Cokburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Langton,  by  his 
wife  the  Lady  Mariota  de  Veteri-Ponte,  was  the 
ancestor  of  this  younger  branch  which  continued  the 
name  of  "  the  old  and  honourable  Cockburns  of 
Henderland,"  in  the  county  of  Peebles,  making  that 
place  their  principal  seat  and  taking  designation 
therefrom. 

Attractive  as  the  situation  was  in  some  respects, 
where  the  Megget  falls  into  St.  Mary's  Loch,  one 
would  have  thought  that  Piers  Cockburn's  fine 
manor  of  Sundirlandhall,  in  a  less  remote  and 
more  accessible  position,  would  have  been  preferred 
as  the  residence  of  the  family.  It  was  perhaps 
deemed  too  accessible.  The  old  Scottish  Barons, 
such  as  the  de  Soulis',  the  Frasers  of  Neidpath  and 
Oliver  Castle,  &c.,  seem  to  have  chosen  the  most 


l62 

secluded  situations  to  build  their  castles,  although 
holding  estates  in  more  favoured  localities.  The  de 
Veteri-Pontes  kept  their  lands  in  Normandy  long 
after  they  settled  in  Britain,  as  did  the  Lords  of 
Liddesdale.  The  Levels,  too,  seemed  to  favour 
their  Scottish  possessions  as  much  as  their  fair 
estates  in  the  west  of  England.  "  On  aist  January 
1321  Edward  II.  signified  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Rouen  that  Richard  Lovel  had  by  his  wife  Muriella, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  John  de  Soulis,  a  son  James, 
now  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  begged  his  good 
offices  for  Richard  regarding  his  son's  heritage  in  his 
diocese." 

It  seems  strange  that  a  castle  in  civilised  Nor- 
mandy should  not  have  been  deemed  a  pleasanter 
abode  than  Hermitage  in  Liddesdale.  Auld  Rox- 
burgh certainly  had  great  recommendations,  and 
Muriella  perhaps  looked  back  with  regret  to  the 
days  when  she  looked  upon  the  fair  scene  at  the 
junction  of  the  Tweed  and  Teviot. 

These  strongholds  in  the  north  were  well  adapted 
certainly  for  the  purposes  of  the  chase,  as  well  as  for 
ruling  with  despotic  power  in  their  neighbourhood. 

Besides  Henderland,  described  as  "a  ten  pound 
land  of  old  extent  situated  on  the  pleasant  bank  of 
St.  Mary's  Loch,  which  belonged  of  old  to  the 
P. '223.'"  '  Cockburns,  the  reputed  chiefs  of  the  surname  in 
Scotland,"  and  Sundirlandhall,  with  Sundirland, 
Piers  Cockburn  held  Bothill  and  the  ecclesiastical 
lands  of  Kirkurd,  which  he  resigned  in  favour  of  his 
son  of  same  name  by  "  staff  and  rod."  He  was  also 
Lord  of  Dalglese  or  Dalgleische  in  Selkirkshire, 
upon  which  lands  a  family  that  took  name  therefrom 
,  P.  266.  were  living  as  vassals  in  1407. 


'63 


On  8th  December  1383,  Piers  de  Kocburn,  Lord 
of     Henryland,     resigned    in    favour    of    Thomas 

Areskyn,  Dominus  de  Dwn 
[Erskine    of    Dun,    County  ScottsofBuc- 

T*       r     -\  11-  T        .1        cleuch.  vol.  ii., 

ForfarJ,  and  his  wife,  the  p.  I3. 
superiority  of  Dalgles, 
County  Selkirk,  and  an 
annual  duty  therefrom  — 
this  tribute  from  the  lands 
of  Dalglese  being  a  pair  of 
gilt  spurs  rendered  annually 
to  him  and  his  predecessors. 
Erskine  had  presumably 
married  Piers  de  Cock- 
burn's  daughter.  Alexander 
Cockburn  of  Langton, 
Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal, 
witnessed  the  charter  of  the 
"  Baronie  of  Dune  "  from  Reg.  Great 

T\    i  T  T  T 

Robert        111.       to 
Thomas    Erskine's   son,    in  44' 
1393.          His      descendant 
Robert,   son    of  Alexander 
Lord     Erskine,     got     new 
charter  of  Syntoun,  Quhit-  7 

,  11  -1      No 

tislaid,  and  Dalglese,  with 
leave  to  infeft  John  Cock- 
burn  of  Ormiston  in  part 
thereof.  Thomas  Lord 
Erskine  was  Sheriff  of  the 
Forest  of  Selkirk  in  1467. 

The  tombstone,  of  which 
a    representation    is    given 
a    careful    rubbing    by    Mr. 


T    L         Seal,  vol.    ., 

John,  p.  2IO,  NO. 


-.  vol.  a., 

32°7- 


Origincs  Paro- 
chiales,  vol.  i., 
p.  248. 


Tomb  of  "  Perys  of  Cokburne.' 

opposite   [taken   from 


B  i 


164 

Proceedings  ef  Hardy,  whose  able  and  interesting  coutributions  to 
AbtoriU?  Border  history  are  well  known],  had  long  been  asso- 
tv'^1884'  ciated  by  local  tradition  with  the  memory  of  the 
sir  Waiter  tragedy  enacted  at  Henderland  in  1529.  The  very 
names  of  Perys  and  Marjory  were  in  consonance 


with  the  romance  that  attaches  to  the  story,  and  they 

Border,  vol.  J  .  / 

iii.,  p.  94.        were  deemed  to  be  those  of  the  unhappy  chieftain 
Sir  T.  Dick-     ancj  jjjg  desolate  wife,  who  witnessed  his  cruel  fate. 

l^auucr  s  Sfot- 

tish  Rivers,      jhe  young   men  and  maidens  of  the  Peeblesshire 

Ridden-          glens  have  been  wont  to  picture  to  themselves  as 

CMC'S  Border  they  read  the  inscription,  the  beautiful  young  lady  of 

p-  57-  Henderland  wringing  her  hands  as,  on  her  knees  at 

^Twuddaje*      l^e  ^eet  °^  *^e  stern  boy-king,  she  supplicated  for 

P.  102.  mercy   towards    the   gallant    knight,    her    husband, 

being  led  to  execution  before  the  gate  of  his  own 

castle.      Wild  and  adventurous  he  doubtless  was, 

but  they  would  sympathetically  feel  that  she,  imbued 

with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  would  admire  him  all  the 

more  for  his  daring  nature. 

This  we  know  now  to  be  but  an  imagination. 
Perys  and  Marjorie  were  laid  here  more  than  a 
hundred  years  before  their  descendant  the  Baron 
of  Henderland,  whose  name  was  unquestionably 
William,  was  so  mercilessly  dealt  with  by  James  the 
Fifth. 

This  stone,  we  may  take  for  granted,  was  laid 
over  their  grave  by  their  son  Piers,  who  inherited 
his  father's  broad  lands,  and  built  and  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary,  for  the  welfare  of  the  souls  of  his  parents, 
the  little  chapel  of  Henderland  in  Rodonna,  which 
had  protected  for  nearly  three  centuries  after  it  fell 
in  ruins  (for  "  it  was  altogedder  down  and  equall  to 
ye  erd"  in  1603)  the  memorial  he  had  placed  there 
to  their  memory. 


His  mother  Marjorie,  there  is  much  reason  to 
think,  was  a  lady  of  the  race  of  de  Soulis  or  Sules,  a 
family  of  first  consequence,  and  having  great  pos- 
sessions— at  one  time,  indeed,  the  most  powerful  in 
the  Border  country.  Their  territories  spread  far 
and  wide.  Liddesdale  was  theirs,  and  all  the  rich 
baronies  of  Nisbet,  Longnewton,  Caverton,  and  sir  Waiter 
Merton,  &c.,  included  in  the  dominium  of  Auld  f 
Roxburgh.  Saltoun  [i.e.  Soulistoun]  in  East  ? 
Lothian  was  another  possession,  and  great  part  of 
Eskdale  and  Ewesdale,  with  the  upper  part  of 
Annandale,  was  also  held  by  them  and  their  relatives 
the  Lovels,  whose  representative  Sir  Richard  got 
the  barony  of  Auld  Roxburgh,  as  already  noticed, 
by  his  marriage  with  Muriella  de  Soulis.  Both 
families  were  numerous  as  well  as  powerful  during 
the  time  of  the  contest  between  Baliol  and  Bruce, 
and  most  of  them  held  to  the  former.  Ranulf  de 
Soulis  was  the  first  of  the  name  prominent  in  Scot- 
land ;  he  was  a  personage  of  importance  in  the  reign 
of  David  the  First.  In  1291  Nicholas  de  Soulis, 
Lord  of  Liddesdale,  was  one  of  the  competitors  for 
the  Crown,  claiming  it  as  heir  of  Marjorie,  natural 
daughter  of  Alexander  II.,  who  married  Alan  Dur- 
ward,  Justiciary  of  the  Kingdom.  The  ruin  of  the 
family  was,  as  is  well  known,  brought  about  by  the 
treason  of  William  de  Soulis,  whose  ambition  led 
him  to  lend  himself  to  the  foul  conspiracy  by  which 
he  was  to  be  placed  upon  the  throne. 

Marjorie,  Piers  de  Cokburn's  wife,  inherited  lands 
that  belonged  to  a  younger  branch  that  held  some  of 
the  estates  in  Eskdale  and  in  Annandale,  whose 
progenitor  may  have  been  that  Thomas  de  Soulis,  a 
loyal  adherent  of  Bruce,  whose  wife's  name  was 


1 66 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i., 
p.  7,  No.  29  ; 
p.  8,  No.  33. 


Robertson's 
Index,  p.  20, 
No.  ^. 


Liber  de 
Metros,  pp. 
397-399- 


Alicia.  In  1318  Edward  II.  ordered  that  "their 
heirs  should  not  be  disturbed  in  their  third  of  the 
manor  of  Stamfortham  that  Thomas  and  Alicia  held 
till  his  rebellion  with  the  Scots."  Or  it  may  be  the 
ancestor  was  John  de  Soulis,  another  trusted  friend 
of  Robert  Bruce,  to  whom  he  gave  lands  in  Annan- 
dale  after  the  condemnation  of  the  traitorous  Knight 
of  Liddesdale.  He  remained  faithful  till  his  death. 
In  1334,  "Simon  Basset  asked  for  a  grant  of  the 
land  which  Maurice  gave  one  David  de  Berkeley, 
which  came  by  inheritance  of  succession  to  one  John 
Soullis,  forfeited  for  his  rebellion  and  adherence  to 
the  Scots  in  the  late  King's  reign."  Archibald 
Douglas  got  the  baronie  of  Kirkanders,  whilks  were 
John  Soullis,  in  vicecom.  de  Dumfries.  Like  the 
Baliols,  the  Soullis  family  seemed  to  have  had  few 
male  descendants.  The  former  might  have  con- 
tinued a  family  prominent  in  the  country  had  there 
been  an  heir-male  to  inherit  Cavers.  The  Levels, 
long  after  their  general  forfeiture,  maintained  the 
prestige  of  the  name  of  the  Barons  of  Hawick  in 
the  county  of  Forfar.  Marjory's  lands  may  have 
come  through  a  female  ancestor  perhaps.  There 
were  no  doubt  other  daughters  of  the  Soulis  race 
besides  the  mother  of  William  de  Kethe,  whose 
husbands  acquired  portions  of  their  vast  estates  ;  THE 
BRUCE  was  too  generous  and  noble  hearted  a  man  to 
forget  the  services  of  the  many  brave  soldiers  of  a 
house  disgraced  by  the  conduct  of  its  chief.  So  even 
his  sister's  son,  this  William  Keith,  then  a  minor, 
was  left  in  possession  of  half  of  the  forfeited  lands 
in  Liddesdale.  Edward  III.  proclaimed  him  a  rebel 
and  escheated  his  estate  in  1333,  after  the  battle  of 
Halidon  Hill.  Ermygarda,  William  de  Soulis'  own 


sister,  was  also  left  undisturbed  in  her  possessions. 
During  all  these  troublous  times  forbearance  was 
shown  on  both  sides  towards  the  widows  of  men 
proclaimed  rebels  by  each  in  their  turn ;  to  female 
heirs  and  minors,  magnanimity  might  be  a  more 
proper  expression,  were  it  not  to  be  suspected  that 
policy  had  much  to  do  with  their  treatment. 

Muriella,  Lady  of  Auld  Roxburgh,  wife  of  Richard 
Lovel,  was  the  daughter  of  John  de  Soulis,  one  of 
the  magnates  of  Scotland  sent  as  envoys  in  1283,  with 
the  Chancellor  Charteris,  to  escort  that  loveliest  of 
the  ladies  of  her  day,  "  Dominarum  Speciosissimam  " 
Joleta  or  Yolande,  daughter  of  the  Count  of  Dreux, 
the  affianced  bride  of  Alexander  III.  Although 
Muriella  is  spoken  of  as  sole  heiress  of  her  father's 
estates,  there  is  no  mention  of  her  husband  in- 
terfering with  that  portion  of  her  heritage  which 
comprised  half  of  the  barony  of  Wester  Ker  or 
Wester  Kirk,  in  Eskdale.  This  may  have  fallen 
to  the  collateral  branch  from  which  Marjorie  Cock- 
burn  sprang. 

We  do  not  know  the  name  of  the  warrior  of  the 
de  Soulis  race  to  whose  memory  was  placed  the 
obelisk  at  Deadrigg,  now  called  Crosshall,  in  the 
parish  of  Eccles,  in  the  Merse.  This  monolith, 
which  stands  ten  feet  in  height  above  the  large  block 
of  stone  which  forms  its  base,  remains  in  wonderfully 
good  preservation  considering  its  exposed  and  unpro- 
tected situation,  with  the  "  three  chevrons  "  of  the 
Soulis  family  distinct.  The  ermine  spots  upon  the 
shield,  as  might  be  expected,  have  been  obliterated 
under  the  influence  of  the  frosts  of  the  five  hundred 
and  more  winters  that  have  passed  since  the  encounter 
took  place  in  which  the  knight  fell  in  whose  honour 


i68 


Harbour's 
Bnue,  Buke 
eleuenth, 
P-  327. 


it  was  set  up.     It  was  not  in  memory  of  that  gallant 
Schyr  Johne  the  Soullis — 

That  to  Schyr  Andrew  Hardclay, 
With  fyfty  men  withset  the  way, 
That  had  thar  in  his  cumpany 
Thre  hundyr  horsyt  jolyly, 
This    Schyr  Jhone   in    till   playn 

melle, 
Throw    sowerane   hardiment    that 

felle, 

Wencussyt  thaim  sturdily  ilk  an, 
And  Schyr  Andrew  in  hand  has 
tane ; 

for  he  was  slain  fighting  in 
the  cause  of  Edward  Bruce 
at  the  battle  of  Dundalk  in 
1318. 

Marjorie  Cockburn's  pos- 
sible ancestor,  that  other 
John  de  Soulis  alluded  to 
as  a  loyal  adherent  of  King 
Robert,  who  got  the  lands  in 
Dumfriesshire  given  to  him, 
may  have  been  the  knight 
slain  in  the  hard  -  fought 
and  sanguinary  skirmish 
on  the  bank  of  the  small 
burn  called  Lepraik  -  Syke, 
the  traditional  story  of  which 
lingered  long  in  the  district. 

Nisbet  gives  the  bearing 
of  the   House  of  Soulis  in 
1278 — ermine,   three   chev- 
rons gules.     Different  arms 
upon    many    of    their   seals. 


Monolith  at  Deadrigg,  from  a 
sketch  by  the  author's  mother 
made  before  1830.  The  opposite 
or  east  side  has  carved  upon  it  the 
figures  of  a  man  and  a  greyhound. 
There  are  a  number  of  crosses  also 
on  the  sides  of  the  stone. 

are,   however,   found 


Nicholas  de  Soulis,  when  he,  with  the  seven  other 
competitors  for  the  throne,  affixed  his  seal  of  arms 
to  the  document  executed  in  1291  at  Upsettlington, 
in  the  Merse,  whereby  they  agreed  to  receive  judg- 
ment from  King  Edward,  as  Lord  Paramount,  used 
a  secretum  bearing  merely  "a  raven,"  not  on  a 
shield ;  but  that  appended  by  him  to  the  deed  of 
homage  had  thereon  a  shield  "  barry  of  six" 

In  1303  Dominus  John  de  Soulis,  whose  seat  was 
Soulistoun  [or  Saltoun]  in  Lothian,  was  one  of  the 
"  seven  Commissioners  sent  to  France  to  watch  over 
the  national  interests."     Appended  to  the  letter  they 
sent  from  there  to  Wallace  [the  Governor],  advising  House 
him  to  offer  strenuous  resistance  to  Edward  if  he  connected  with 
refused  the  truce  asked  for  by  the  French  monarch,  f°ilanj-  voL 
was  his  seal  of  arms  bearing  "  a  shield  hanging  from 
a  tree,  thereon  three  bars,  surmounted  by  a  ribbon." 
The  traitor  knight  of  Liddesdale  also  carried  bars 
upon  his  shield.     Sir  Thomas  de  Soulis  used  a  seal 
having   a   bend    and    other   charges,  but   they   are 
obliterated. 

It  is  very  unwise,  when  tracing  the  history  of  a 
family,  to  treat  as  facts  alliances  for  which  there  is 
no  authority  but  vague  family  tradition ;  but  when 
such  traditions  are  borne  out  by  succession  to  lands 
and  by  similarity  of  armorial  bearings,  they  may 
fairly  be  accepted  as  having  solid  foundation.  Mar- 
jorie  was  a  name  favoured  by  the  de  Soulis  family 
in  remembrance  of  their  ancestress  King  Alex- 
ander's daughter  ;  and  her  presumed  son,  Piers  de 
Cokburn  held  lands  in  Annandale  which  belonged 
to  her  house,  and  placed  the  three  cocks  upon  an 
ermine  field,  the  tincture  of  the  Soulis  shield.  The 
name  is  far  from  being  a  popular  one  in  Scotland. 


The  conduct  of  the  last  Lord  of  Liddesdale  covered 
it  with  opprobrium,  and  there  is  over  it  the  shadow 
of  that  dreadful  chief's  memory,  whose  portrait,  as 
Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  "  is  by  no  means  flattering ; 
uniting  every  quality  which  could  make  strength 
formidable  and  cruelty  detestable,  combining  pro- 
digious bodily  strength  and  cruelty,  with  avarice, 
dissimulation,  treachery,  is  it  surprising  that  a  people 
who  attributed  every  event  of  life  in  a  great  measure 
to  the  interference  of  good  and  evil  spirits  should 
have  added  to  such  a  character  the  mystical  horrors 
of  sorcery  ?  Thus  he  is  represented  as  a  cruel 
tyrant  and  sorcerer ;  constantly  employed  in  harass- 
ing his  neighbours,  oppressing  his  vassals,  and  forti- 
fying his  castle  of  Hermitage  against  the  King  of 
Scotland,  for  which  purpose  he  employed  all  means, 
human  and  infernal,  invoking  the  fiends  .  by  his 
incantations,  and  forcing  his  vassals  to  drag  materials 
like  beasts  of  burden." 

Local  story  tells  us  that  he  expiated  his  crimes  by 
being  boiled  in  lead  on  the  Nine  Stane  Rig.  If 
such  a  personage  ever  existed,  we  may  believe  that 
as  much  fabulous  exaggeration  attaches  to  him  as  to 
Michael  Scott,  "  who  held  in  awe  the  fiends  of  hell," 
whose  black  spae-book  True  Thomas  of  Ersyltoun 
consulted,  when 

"  He  found  that  to  quell  the  powerful  spell 
The  wizard  must  be  boiled  in  lead." 

We  may  safely  also  believe  that  no  tragedy  was 
ever  enacted  within  the  dark  grim  castle  of  Her- 
mitage more  cruel  than  that  perpetrated  there  not 
very  long  after  the  forfeiture  of  the  last  Lord  Soulis 
of  Liddesdale.  It  was  into  its  loathsome  dungeon 


that  the  wounded  and  bleeding  knight,  the  gallant 
Alexander  Ramsay,  was  thrust,  and  there  starved  to 
death  in  the  year  1342.  He  had  been  captured  after 
a  severe  struggle  in  the  church  of  Hawick,  where  he 
had  been  holding  a  Court  of  Justice,  by  Sir  William 
Douglas,  now  Knight  of  Liddesdale,  called  "  the 
Flower  of  Chivalry,"  once  his  own  intimate  friend  and 
companion  in  arms,  who  thus  satiated  his  feelings  of 
jealousy  and  revenge  for  his  having  been  given  the 
office  of  Sheriff  of  Roxburghshire  by  the  King, 
which  had  formerly  been  held  by  the  de  Soulis, 
Knight  of  Liddesdale.  Referring  to  the  foregoing 
observations  relative  to  the  presumed  ancestors  of 
Marjorie  Cockburn,  whose  names  in  the  "  Liber  de 
Melros"  and  elsewhere,  are  written  variously  as  Sules, 
Soules,  Soulys,  Soulle,  &c.,  it  may  be  further  noticed 
that  scions  of  the  family  are  still  found  mentioned  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  There  was  a  John  de  Soulle 
serving  with  the  Scottish  auxiliaries  in  France  at  the 
time  things  had  been  brought  to  the  lowest  ebb  with 
Charles  VI.  On  the  loth  May  1417  an  agreement 
was  made  for  the  surrender  of  the  fortress  of  Hambye, 
between  "  Johan  de  Robessart  Chivaler  et  Commis. 
de  Tresbault  et  Trespuissant  Prince  mon  Tres- 
double,  Seigneur  le  Due  de  Gloucestre  d'une  part  et 
d'autrepart,  Johan  de  Soulle  Escuier  pour  et  noun  de 
Messieur  Philip  de  la  Haye  Chivaler,  et  Capitayne 
du  Chastell  de  Hamlye."  It  was  stipulated  that 
"  Congee  et  license  d'en  partir.  le  jour  de  la  Rendue 
franchement  avec  leurs  corps,  leurs  chevaulx,  et  tous 
leurs  propres  armures,"  &c.,  should  be  given  to  all  the 
garrison  who  did  not  chose  "attendre  ne  demourer 
soubz  1'obbeisance  du  Tres  Excellent  Roy  de  France 
et  d'Engleterre." 

c  i 


Rymer's 
Fadora,  torn. 
x.,  p.  297. 


172 

Most  probably  Philip  de  la  Haye  and  John  de 
Soullis  went  with  their  followers  back  to  their  native 
glens  in  Tweeddale  and  Eskdale,  to  return  to  France 
in  the  next  year  with  the  army  led  by  Buchan. 

There  was  also  a  Florimont  de  Soulle,  who  was 
taken  prisoner  in  1423  in  the  market-place  of  Mewes, 
in  France,  whom  Henry  VI.  handed  over  to  Robert 
Scot,  who  was  answerable  for  his  leaving  the  terri- 
tories of  the  King  of  England  and  departing  to  his 
own  country  "  cum  financia  sua," — a  safe  conduct 
being  granted  to  the  said  Florimont  or  Florimund, 
a  name  which  was  not  uncommon  amongst  the 
Cockburns  at  that  time. 


ii.  Ipicrs  be  tfokburn   of   Cjctt&crlan& 

had,  as  has  been  stated,  renewed  charter  upon  his 
father's  resignation  in  his  favour  of  all  the  lands 
he  possessed.  It  was  dated  at  Stirling  on  the 
loth  April  1383,  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  reign 
Keg.  Great  of  Robert  II.  It  was  provided  that,  "failing 
163,' NO.  II.P'  his  father's  other  legitimate  descendants  and  his 
own,  or  his  brother's  and  sister's,  Henriland  with 
its  appanages,  the  lands  of  Bothill,  the  church  lands 
of  Kirkurd,  County  Peebles,  and  Sundirland  with 
its  manor,  County  Selkirk,  should  revert  to  the  heirs 
whomsoever  of  his  grandfather  Alexander  de  Cok- 
burn  de  Langton."  These  were  not  all  the  lands  he 
inherited.  He  had  those  also  in  Annandale  and  in 
Eskdale,  supposed  to  have  come  from  his  mother's 
family,  and  the  superiority  of  the  territory  on  the 
Tima  water,  probably  the  oldest  property  of  the 
Cockburns  in  the  district,  still  belonged  to  him.  On 
i8th  June  1418  he  ratified,  as  over-lord,  the  charter 
from  Robert  Scott,  "  dominus  de  Rankylburn,"  of  the 


J73 

lands  of  Glenkerry  to  the  monastery  of  Melrose,  an  Liter  de 
excambion  having  been  arranged  by  which  the  Scotts  Not.  548  and 
got  Bellenden.     This  Robert  Scott  of  Rankylburn,  55°- 
in  Selkirkshire,  who  also  had  Murthockstone  [Mur- 
Si»  diestone],   in   Lanarkshire,   ac- 

quired   six    years    before    his 
death,    which    took    place    in 
1426,  half  the  lands  of  Branki- 
shelme  [Branxholm]  from  John 
Inglis  of  Manir.     The  charter 
was    signed   at    the    Kirk    of 
Seal  of  ^'L^okTume,     Manir  [or  Manor]  3  ist  January 
A.D.  1418.  1420.     This  estate  his  father 

Sir  William  Inglis  got,  it  is  said,  from  his  kinsman 
King  Robert  III.  as  a  reward  for  the  prowess  dis- 
played by  him  in  his  encounter  with  an  Englishman,  voL  L,p.aia 
Sir  Thomas  Strothers,  whom  he  slew  in  the  duel  at 
Rules-haugh  in  Bedrule,  Archibald  Earl  of  Douglas, 
and  Henry  Percy    Earl    of  Northumberland,   being 
onlookers.       The   vanquished    English    knight  was 
doubtless  of  the  same  family  as  the    Thomas  del 
Strother  [representative  of  an  old  Northumbrian  race 
who  had  a  strother  or  strath  in  Islandschyre],  slain  in  Fordun,  vol. 
a  similar  manner  in  single  combat  by  Robert  de  "'' p' ' 
Graunt.    Sir  Adomar  de  Athol  was  knight  to  Henry 
del  Strother  in  1365.     Not  much  is   known  about 
Robert  Lord  of  Rankylburne,who  was  a  man  of  peace, 
but  that  he  granted  lands  to  the  abbot  and  monks  Riddeii- 
of  Melrose  for  the  good  of  his  soul.    Sir  Walter  Scott, 

called  of  Kirkurd,  his  successor,  was  a  chieftain  of  M" 

PP. 

very  different  disposition,  and  his  neighbour  Sir 
Robert  Inglis  was  equally  unlike  his  ancestor,  the 
warlike  Sir  William.  Unable  to  brook  the  insults 
he  was  subjected  to,  or  protect  himself  against  the 


Riddell 
Carre's 
Border 
Memories, 
p.  S2. 


Chambers' 
History  of 
Peeblesshire, 
p.  81. 


174 

plundering  propensities  of  the  English  Border  mar- 
auders, Inglis  exchanged  the  rest  of  the  lands  of 
Branxholm  with  Sir  Walter  Scott  for  Murdieston, 
situated  in  a  quieter  locality.  This  chief  of  the 
Scotts,  styled  afterwards  of  Buccleuch  and  Branx- 
holm, was  well  able  to  keep  his  own  against  all 
comers,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  fortunes 
of  the  great  house  of  Buccleuch  by  the  faithful 
and  important  assistance  he  rendered  to  James  II. 
against  the  Douglasses.  He  married  Margaret 
Cockburn,  daughter  of  the  Lord  of  Henderland  and 
Sundirlandhall.  "  Margarete  Cokburn,  domina  de 
Branxholme,"  as  she  appears  styled,  was  thus 
ancestress  of  "  the  Bold  Buccleuch,"  her  son  being 
the  Sir  David  Scott  who  aided  so  materially  in  the 
final  suppression  of  the  Douglasses,  and  received 
from  James  III.  the  honour  of  knighthood  and  addi- 
tional lands  in  recognition  of  his  services.  He  sat 
in  the  Parliament  of  1487  as  Dominus  de  Buccleuch. 
Piers  de  Cokburn  had  besides  Margaret  three  sons, 
William,  his  successor,  Edward,  and  Thomas.  We 
know  nothing  about  Edward,  except  that  he  aided 
his  brother  William  in  slaying  a  Tuedy.  Thomas 
was  one  of  the  Brygg-masters  of  Peebles,  William 
of  Balcaskie  was  another.  Thomas  Cockburn  was  a 
"  Magister  Artium,"  and  no  doubt  a  useful  person  in 
his  time.  The  bridge  over  the  Tweed,  built  under 
his  joint  supervision,  was  a  substantial  one,  and 
stands  to  this  day.  The  inhabitants  of  the  burgh 
and  neighbourhood  were  liberal  in  giving  assistance 
in  carrying  out  the  work.  On  the  26.  February 
1465  the  officers  appointed  to  superintend  the 
erection  were  appointed,  and  the  same  day  "  the 
nychbours  consented  that  what  tyme  the  bryg- 


175 

masters  chargit  them  to  cum  to  work  to  ye  bryg, 
they  sail  cum  under  the  payn  of  a  man's  day's  work, 
and  that  is  sixpence  "  [a  halfpenny  sterling]. 


in.  William  Olockburn  of 

witnessed  23d  July  1446  the  charter  of  Branxholm, 
&c.  to  his  brother-in-law,  Sir  David  Scott.  He  took 
the  opposite  side  from  him,  and  was  a  partisan  of 
the  Black  Douglasses  during  their  last  struggle  with 
the  Crown,  when,  as  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Scotts, 
Sir  Walter  of  Abbotsford,  says — "  The  issue  depend- 
ing was,  whether  James  Stuart  or  James  Douglas 
should  wear  the  Crown  of  Scotland,  when  their 
greatness,  which  had  been  founded  on  the  loyalty 
and  bravery  of  the  good  Lord  James,  was  destroyed 
by  the  rebellious  and  wavering  conduct  of  the  ninth 
and  last  Earl." 

Amongst  those  who  suffered  forfeiture  for  being 
present  on  the  banks  of  the  Carron  on  that  summer 
evening  in  the  eventful  year  1453,  "when  the 
mighty  host  of  forty  thousand  men  gathered  under 
the  Douglas  standard  seemed  suddenly  to  disband 
itself,  and  the  great  Earl  found  himself  in  the 
morning  with  scarce  a  hundred  followers  in  his 
silent  and  deserted  camp,"  was  William,  Baron  of 
Henderland.  On  the  i6th  January  1464,  the  King 
granted  to  William  Douglas  of  Cluny,  one  of  the 
"  Red  Douglasses  who  put  down  the  Black,"  the 
lands  of  Sundirlandhall,  County  Selkirk,  belonging 
to  the  Crown  by  reason  of  the  forfeiture  of  William 
Cokburne  for  his  treasonable  assistance,  support,  and  Keg.  Great 
favours  to  James  de  Douglas  and  his  accomplices.  NO. '775.  " ' 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  778- 


Ibid.,  No. 
1180. 


Exchequer 
Rolls,  vol.  vi. 
p.  618. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii. , 
No.  246. 


176 

These  lands  were  by  same  charter  incorporated  into 
the  one  Barony  of  Sundirlandhall,  along  with 
Traquair  and  Lethanhope,  County  Peebles,  and 
Cranstoun,  County  Edinburgh,  forfeited  by  William 
de  Moravia  for  the  same  cause. 

James  III.,  however,  was  forgiving,  and  restored 
to  him  by  charter  dated  2gth  March,  in  the  same 
year,  great  part  of  his  possessions,  namely,  the 
barony  of  Henderland,  with  its  pertinents,  the  lands 
of  Boithill  or  Bold,  in  the  county  of  Peebles,  and 
Skifttonholme,  in  Annandale,  and  not  long  after 
the  Sundirlandhall  Barony,  with  Sundirland,  were 
also  given  back  to  him ;  so  that  he  was  able  to  settle 
them  upon  his  son  William  and  his  wife  Katerine 
Ruthirfurd,  resigning  them  into  the  King's  hands, 
who  granted  new  charter  thereof  to  them  conjointly, 
soth  July  1474.  So  that  it  was  but  for  a  short  time 
that  William  Douglas  was  "  Lord  of  Sundirland," 
which  on  one  or  two  occasions  he  was  styled. 

William  Cockburn  of  Henderland  had  remission 
in  1460  for  non-attendance  at  the  Court  of  Justice- 
Ayre  held  at  Dumfries,  and  two  years  previously, 
along  with  his  brother  Edward,  he  had  pardon  for 
the  slaughter  of  Roger  Tuedy.  On  the  same  day 
Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling  and  his  brother 
James  had  also  remission  for  killing  Walter  Tuedy. 
He  was  connected  with  Dumfriesshire  in  consequence 
of  possessing  the  lands  in  Annandale  and  in  Esk- 
dale,  which  were,  as  mentioned,  once  held  by  the 
family  of  Soulis. 

His  wife's  name  was  Egidia  or  Gelis,  daughter 
seemingly  of  Frisell  or  Eraser  of  Overtoun.  Wil- 
liam Fresal,  dominus  de  le  Overtoun,  had  consider- 
able estates  in  Peeblesshire  and  Lanarkshire.  In 


177 

1439  he  granted  charter,  "  pro  concilio  sibi  multi- 
pliciter  impensis,"  to  James  Douglas,  Earl  of  Aven- 
dale,  and  Beatrix  his  wife,  of  the  barony  of  Glen- 
quhim,  County  Peebles.  Urrisland,  in  Glenquholm, 
however,  still  belonged  in  1531  to  Katherine  Frisell, 
domina  de  Fruid,  wife  of  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier. 
Richard  Fraser  had  custody  of  the  lands  of  the  late 
Richard  de  Glen  till  the  majority  of  the  heirs  with 
their  marriage  in  the  year  1292. 

William  Cockburn  left  two  sons,  William  his  heir, 
Gilbert,  called  of  the  Glen,  and  three  daughters. 

One  of  them  [whose  name  in  all  probability  is  correctly 
called   Marjorie   by  one  antiquarian]  married  Walter  Scott,   MS.  Notts, 
seventh  laird  of  Syntoun  or  Sinton,  who  had  succeeded  to  his  ^  M£ 
father  before  1478,  according  to  Sir  Robert  Douglas.     Their  Engraver  to 
eldest  son  Walter   succeeded  in  his  turn,   and   married   a  H-M- 
daughter  of  Riddell  of  Riddell,  but  died  without  issue.     His  Douglas' 
father  had  married  a  second  wife,  Margaret  Riddell,  his  son's  ^iZ"^' 
wife's  sister,  and  by  her  had  several  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom, 
Robert  Scott  of  Strickshaws,  was  ancestor  of  the  House  of 
Harden.     So,  if  this  commonly  accepted  genealogy  is  correct, 
which  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  the  blood  of  the  long- 
descended  Cockburns  of  Henderland  does  not  run  in  the  veins 
of  the  Scotts  of  Harden,  as  it  did  in  those  of  Anne  Scott, 
Countess  of  Buccleuch,  who  married  the  unhappy  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  and  was  the  ancestress  of  the  Dukes  of  Buccleuch. 
It  has  been  thought  possible  that  it  may  have  done  so  by 
descent  from  Margaret  Cockburn,  the  wife  of  Sir  Walter  Scott 
of  Kirkurd,   afterwards  designated  of  Branxholm  and  Buc- 
cleuch.    This,  however,  it  is  pretty  certain,  was  not  the  case ; 
for  the  ancestor  of  the  old  Scotts  of  Synton  was  in  all  pro- 
bability a  younger  son  of  Sir  Michael  Scott,  who  fell  at  the  Memoir,  by 
battle  of  Durham  in  1346,  as  stated  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in 
his  MS.  genealogy  of  his  family. 

MARGARET  COCKBURN,  another  daughter,  married 
first  John  Lindsay  of  Wauchopedale,  representative  of  that 
very  ancient  branch  of  the  House  of  Lindsay.  She  married  the  Lindsays, 

vol.  i.,  p.  65. 


178 


Ada  Dom. 
Concilii,  vol.  i., 
P-  375- 


Icing's  Cata- 
Ifgue,  vol.  i., 
p.  221. 


Acla  Dom. 
Cmcilii,  A.D. 
1480. 


Bain's  Cal- 
endar, vol.  L, 
No.  2679. 


Keg .  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i., 
p.  206.,  No. 


secondly  William  Hay  of  Tallo,  County  Peebles,  cousin 
to  the  Lord  of  Yester.  On  izth  July  1494  "comperit 
before  the  Lords  of  the  Council  John  Lindsay  of  Wauchope- 
dale,  and  protested  that  becaus  William  Hay  of  Tallo,  and 
Margrete  Cokburn,  his  spous,  the  spous  of  umquhile  John 
Lindsay  of  Wauchopedale,  gert  summand  hym  for  certain 
actiounis  and  causis,  and  would  not  compeir  to  follow  hym.'i 
&c.  As  she  is  not  called  his  mother  in  the  proceedings,  she 
may  have  only  been  his  stepmother,  presuming  that  the  John 
Lindsay  whom  he  succeeded  was  his  father,  which  does  not 
appear  certain. 

In  1 5 1 3  she  appended  her  seal,  with  the  bearing  of  her  own 
family  thereon,  a  mullet  between  three  cocks,  to  a  deed  by 
which  she  and  her  husband  resigned  certain  lands  in  Barrow, 
County  Haddington,  the  liferent  of  which  had  been  settled 
upon  her,  to^  John  Hay,  Lord  of  Yester.  These  lands,  as 
also  Oliver  Castle,  had  in  1439  been  acquired  by  her  hus- 
band's grandfather,  Edmunde  de  Haia,  from  his  brother, 
"  David  de  Haia,  miles,  dominus  de  Yhestir,"  whose  ancestor 
William  de  Haia,  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion,  married 
the  daughter  of  Ranulf  de  Soulis,  Lord  of  Liddesdale.  Ed- 
mund le  Haya  of  Tallo's  son  William  had  a  dispute  with  his 
kinsman  of  Yester  about  their  respective  lands,  and  his  son, 
Margaret  Cockburn's  husband,  was  called  upon  to  appear 
before  the  Lords  of  the  Council  to  answer  the  complaint 
"  aganis  him,  the  said  William  Hay,  ye  son  and  are  of 
umquhile,  William  Hay  of  Tallo,  by  Richert  of  Quhitelaw." 

GEILIS,  a  third  daughter,  married  Alexander  Murray.  They 
had  the  lands  of  Shillinglaw  or  Scheylynlaw,  upon  the  Quhair, 
settled  upon  them  in  conjunct  fee  by  his  father,  William 
Murray  of  Traquair,  anciently  called  Trevequhair.  In  1262 
Alexander  King  of  Scots  sent  instructions  to  Symon  Eraser, 
sheriff  of  Trevequhair,  and  ....  commanding  them  to  go  to 
the  land  of  the  Abbot  and  Convent  of  Melros,  next  the  water 
of  Gala,  respecting  a  diversion  of  the  water,  and  to  return  the 
inquisition  with  the  writ  under  seal  to  the  King  at  Berwick. 
Troucquair,  Schelinlaw,  and  all  the  valley  of  the  Quhair 
belonged  to  Thomas  de  Mautelant,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of 
Lauderdale,  who  had  also  the  extensive  barony  of  Halsyngton 
[Hassington],  in  the  Merse,  which  he  gave  to  his  son  William 


179 

de  Mautelant,   on  his   marriage  to   Elizabeth,   daughter  of 

William   Watson    of    Cranystoune    [Cranston].      Alexander 

Cockburn  of  Langton,  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  witnessed 

the   charter.     William  Watson   had   in    1427    charter  from 

Robert,  Duke  of  Albany,  of  Trakware  and  Scheringlaw,  with  Keg.  Great 

consent  of  his  brother-in-law,  William  de  Mautelant,  failing  Seal,^o\,  \.,  p. 

whose   heirs  and  those  of  his  cousins   Robert  and  Roger  ...  '    , ' ' 

Watson,  these  estates  were  to  go  to  Andro  Murray,  son  of  Heraldry, 

John  Murray  of  Blackbarony.     In  1490  James  IV.  granted  edit-  '722»  P- 

them  to  John  Murray,  son  of  Patrick  Murray  of  Falahill,  as 

last  heir  to  David  Boswell,  son  and  heir  of  Marion  Watson, 

"  quha  deit  in  fee  of  the  lands"  [i.e.  Traquair  and  Scheling-   Origines  Paro- 

law],  which  had  passed  through  various  hands  in  the  mean-  c/"alfs>  vo1-  '•> 

time.     On  the  forfeiture  of  William  Murray  in  1464  they  had 

been  given  to  Douglas  of  Cluny,  then  to  Lord   Boyd,  on 

whose  forfeiture  in  1469  they  were  resumed  by  the  Crown,  Chambers' 

and  bestowed  by  James  III.  upon  his  favourite  musician,  Dr.   P"l>lfsshire, 

Rogers,  who  held  them  for  about  ten  years,  and  then  sold,  or 

rather,  as   Mr.    Chambers  says,    "  obligingly   relinquished," 

under   circumstances  that   will  never  be  known   now,   the 

estate  of  Traquair,  which  produces  ^£5000  sterling  a  year, 

for  70  marks  Scots,  or  ^3  : 15  : 10,  to  James  Stuart,  Earl  of  Itid.,  p.  86. 

Buchan,  the  King's  uncle.    Nor  did  the  noble  purchaser  pay 

him  this  down.     By  the  deed  of  sale,  dated  igth  September 

1478,  40  marks  was  to  be  paid  at  Martinmas  next,  and  he 

was  to  have  credit  for  the  balance  of  30  marks  [about  303. 

sterling]  till  eight  days  before   Christmas   in   1479.      Very 

possibly  it  never  was  paid  at  all,  but  deferred  from  time  to 

time  till  the  Earl  got  quit  of  his  creditor  in  a  summary  manner. 

He  was  one  of  the  nobles  who  in  1482  supported  Douglas, 
Earl  of  Angus,  "Archibald  Bell  the  Cat,"  when  James 
III.'s  obnoxious  favourites,  Cochrane  and  the  rest,  were 
hanged  by  them  over  Lauder  Bridge.  Amongst  those  thus 
disposed  of  was  the  accomplished  musician,  wretched  Dr. 
Rogers. 

It  was  a  capital  bargain  that  Buchan  made,  and  suited  him 
well,  as  he  was  able  to  bestow  this  fine  barony  upon  his 
natural  son  James  Stewart,  whose  descendants,  the  Earls  of 
Traquair,  enjoyed  this  estate  and  the  lands  that  came  by  the 
match  of  James  Stewart  of  Traquair  with  Katherine,  co- 
heiress of  her  father  Philip  Ruthirfurd  of  that  Ilk. 
D  I 


i8o 


Ada  Dom. 
Coneilii, 
vol.  i.,  pp. 
208,  309. 


Originrt 
I'arochiales, 
vol.  i.,  p.  221. 


Upon  the  strength  of  his  so-called  purchase  of  the  Traquair 
barony,  the  Earl  of  Buchan  began  to  trouble  Geilis  Cock- 
burn  in  her  possession  of  Schelinglaw,  but  she  was  a  woman 
of  spirit,  and  would  not  resign  her  rights  to  the  unscrupulous 
noble,  even  although  so  nearly  related  to  the  sovereign.  On 
3d  February  1493  she  is  found  maintaining  them  before  the 
Lords  in  Council,  to  whom  she  produced  her  instrument  of 
sasine  from  "  umquhile  William  Murray  of  Traqtiare,  faider 
to  her  spous  the  deceased  Alexander  Murray." 

Margaret,  Alexander's  mother,  widow  of  William  Murray 
of  Traquair,  had  a  struggle  to  keep  her  liferent  in  the  lands. 
and  had  to  compromise  her  claim  at  last  with  Buchan  for  8 
merks  yearly. 


Ibid.,  vol.  L, 
p.  222. 


Ruthirfurds 
of  that  Ilk, 
pp.  xi.,  xxvi., 
and  xxvii. 

Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  3761. 

/<to/.,No. 
1576. 

Kid.,  No. 
1762. 


Aeta  Dom, 
Audit.,  p.  70. 


Rutherfurds 
of  that  Ilk, 
Chart 
Pedigree, 


GILBERT  COCKBTJRN,  the  second  son,  was  styled 
of  Glen.  This  barony  was  divided  into  three  parts,  Easter, 
Wester,  and  Nether  Glen.  It  lay  above  Schelinglaw,  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  "  winding  stream  "  of  Quhair,  as  that  name 
signifies,  and  about  1460  was  divided  between  the  heirs  of 
Christiana  de  Glen,  who  married  David  Stewart.  James 
Stewart  of  Traquair  and  his  wife,  Kathrine  Ruthirfurd, 
daughter  of  Philip  Rutherfurd  of  that  Ilk,  had  one  portion, 
which  was  incorporated  into  the  barony  of  Traquair  in  1512. 
Cunynghame  of  Polmais-Cunynghame,  County  Stirling,  had 
another.  Thomas  Myddilmaist  of  Grevistoun,  who  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Skirling, 
County  Peebles,  and  Cessford,  County  Roxburgh,  had  the 
third,  which  Margaret,  wife  of  Sylvester  Rattray  de  eodem, 
daughter  of  Christian  Glen,  and  her  husband,  David  Stewart, 
resigned.  After  George  Middlemast,  son  of  Thomas,  was 
murdered  by  the  Dicksons,  Gilbert  Cockburn's  nephew  John 
appears  to  have  possessed  both  Easter  and  Wester  Glen. 
Gilbert  was  dead  it  seems  before  1478,  when  Walter  Tuedy 
of  Drummelzier  and  Alexander  Horsburgh  of  Horsburgh 
came  before  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  to  answer  the  com- 
plaint of  "John  ye  Hay  of  Yestir,"  who  claimed  sums  of 
money  from  them  as  assignees  of  Gilbert  Cokburn  of  Glen, 
who  must  have  been  unmarried,  or  had  no  sons,  as  his 
nephew,  son  of  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland,  and  his 
wife,  Katrine  Ruthirfurd,  succeeded.  Richard,  son  of  Robert 
Ruthirfurd  of  Chatto,  had  part  of  the  estate  of  Glennysland, 


County  Roxburgh,  which  the  above-mentioned  Christiana  de 
Glen,  with  consent  of  her  husband,  David  Stewart,  had 
resigned.  Sarra  of  Glen,  County  Peebles,  did  homage  to 
Edward  I.  at  Berwick. 


JOHN  COCKBURN  of  Glen  married  Isobel  Murray, 
and  had  a  son  John,  who  succeeded  to  Glen.  He  was  one 
of  the  assize,  assembled  in  May  1562,  that  acquitted  Robert  Pitcairn's 
Hunter  of  Polmood  and  several  other  neighbouring  lairds, 
charged  with  "  the  crime  of  remayning  and  byding  contemp- 
nandlie  fra  ouer  Soueraine  Ladie's  Hoist  and  raid  ordanit  at 
Jedburgh,  i3th  day  of  November  by-past."  Robert  Burnett 
of  Barnis  was  denounced  a  rebel  for  the  same  cause,  and 
his  suretie,  William  Portwyse  of  Halkshaw,  was  ammerciated 
in  ^Jioo  for  his  non-appearance,  notwithstanding  his  son 
William,  younger  of  Barnes,  having  presented  a  testimonial 
from  the  minister  of  "  Menner,"  stating  that  "  his  said  father 
was  of  the  aige  of  thre  scoir  ane  zeris,  and  laboris  in  ane  hevy 
and  continuall  seikness  of  ye  poplicie."  George  Ramsay  of 
Dalhousie  was  more  considerately  treated,  and  received  a 
license  soon  after  to  abyde  from  raidis,  hoistis,  weiris,  and 
assemblies  quhatsumever,  because  he  is  corpolent,  and  cannot 
from  seikness  and  infirmitie  weill  endure  trawell  without 
danger  of  his  lyfe,  &c.  [subscriuit  with  ouer  hand  and  under 
ouer  signet  at  Edinr  ye  xiii.  day  of  Januar  the  zere  of  God 
Imvclxiii.  zeris.—  [MARIE  R.] 

John  Cockburn  died  after  1576,  as  his  son  John  is  called 
"  Younger  of  the  Glen"  in  his  wife's  will  made  in  that  year. 
This  laird  of  the  Glen  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  wild, 
reckless  spirits  of  his  time.  On  isth  April  1585  it  is  recorded  R'g-  Privy 
that  John  Levingstone  of  Belstane  made  complaint  to  His 
Majesty  that  "  on  3d  February  last  he  chanceit  to  pass  furth 
at  his  awen  yett  of  the  Belstane  befoir  the  sone  ryseing  in  the 
morning  in  quiet  and  peaceable  maner,  luiking  for  harme, 
trouble,  or  injurie  of  na  man,  but  to  have  levit  under  Godis 
peax  and  ouris.  Nevertheless  William,  Master  of  Yester, 
being  denouncet  oure  rebell  and  at  cure  home  for  the 
slaughter  of  the  Laird  of  Wistrawis  servand,  accompanyit  with 
Alexander  Jardane,  yr  of  Apilgirth,  Hew  Sommeruile,  Mr. 
Alexander  Vaiche  of  Hampton,  William  his  son,  John  Cock- 
burn  of  the  Glen,  &c.,  with  convocatioune  of  our  leigis  to  the 


182 


Chambers, 
P-  373- 


Commiss. 
of  Edin.  Kff,'. 
of  Ttitamrnts, 
vol.  vi. 


Inquisit. 
Rttorn. 
Abbrrv. 
County 
fettles.  No. 
212,  D.  139. 


nomer  of  fourtie  personis  or  thairby,  bodin  in  feir  of  wer  with 
jakkis,  steilbonnettis,  speirs,  staffis,  bowis,  hacquebuitis,  and 
pistolettis,  prohibite  to  be  worne  be  ouer  Actis  of  Parliament 
and  Secret  Counsall,  and  otheris  vaponis  invasive,  come  to  the 
said  complenaris  place  of  Belstane  the  said  day  befoir  the 
sone  rysing,  as  said  is,  and  thair,  be  way  of  hamesuckin, 
pursuit  the  said  complenar  of  his  lyffe,  and  in  the  meantime 
discharged  and  schoitt  divers  schoittis  of  hacquebuitis  and 
pistollettis  at  him,  quhilk  he  having  narrowlie  eschaipit  with 
the  grite  perell  of  his  lyffe,  he  at  last  wan  to  his  said  hous, 
quhilk  the  said  personis  circuit  and  environit  round  aboute  in 
all  quarteris  with  men,  and  schoitt  continuelie  with  hacque- 
buitis and  pistolettis  at  the  windois  and  oppin  partes  thairof, 
likeas  ane  of  the  same  schoittis  thay  schoitt  ane  bullon  throw 
his  halt,  and  putt  him  in  dangear  thairthrow  of  his  lyffe,  and  lay 
continualie  aboute  the  said  place,  assaging  him  within  the  same 
for  the  space  of  three  houris  or  thairby.  Farther,  in  their  depart- 
ing fra  the  said  place  meting  his  wyffe  and  dochter  the  same 
personis  maist  shamefullie  and  unmercifullie  struik,  hurte,  and 
woundit  thaim  to  the  effusion  of  thair  blude  in  perell  of  their 
lyveis."  The  accused  were  as  usual  denounced  as  rebels  for 
not  appearing  to  answer,  and  no  more  seemingly  came  of  the 
matter.  John  of  the  Glen  married  Janet  Horsburgh,  whose 
family,  the  Horsburghs  of  that  Ilk,  was  a  very  old  and 
influential  one  in  the  county  of  Peebles,  and  remains  to  this 
day,  being,  Mr.  Chambers  says,  "  we  conceive  the  oldest 
family  of  territorial  distinction  in  an  unbroken  line  in 
Peeblesshire."  She  died  23d  March  1576.  In  her  will, 
dated  two  days  before  her  death,  she  begged  that  her 
husband,  whom  she  appointed  executor  and  intromitter  with 
her  whole  effects,  "  would  do  weill  to  her  barnes."  From 
this  expression  it  would  seem  that  she  had  been  married 
before,  and  that  the  said  "  barnes  "  were  not  John  Cock- 
burn's  children.  He  left  a  son,  either  by  this  or  some  other 
marriage,  named  Samuel,  who  succeeded  to  Henderland,  and 
a  daughter  Bessie  or  Elizabeth,  served  heir  to  her  grand- 
mother Isobell  Murray  in  the  third  part  of  her  third  portion 
of  the  lands  of  Glen.  The  principal  part  of  this  estate  in 
1630  belonged  to  Cranstouns.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir 
James  Murray  of  Philiphaugh,  who  died  about  that  date, 
married  Cranstoun  of  Glen. 


iv.  William  tfockburn  of  Qeiticrlanft 

married  Katrine  or  Katharine,  daughter  of  George 
Ruthirfurd  of  Chatto  and  his  wife  Elena,  from  whom 
descended    the    Ruthirfurds    of    Hunthill    and    the  * 
Lords   Ruthirfurd,   the  first  of  whom    was  created  xxxi.,  and 

Earl  of  Teviot.  Pedigree. 

William  and  Katerine  had  joint  sasine  under  his 
father's  charter,  as  before  mentioned,  of  Sundirland 
and  Sundirlandhall,  County  Selkirk.  Although 
within  the  bounds  of  this  county,  these  estates  were 
included  formerly  in  the  Level's  great  barony  of 
Hawick,  County  Roxburgh.  He  succeeded  to  all 
his  father's  estates  about  1480-85,  and  amongst 
them  to  part  of  the  lands  of  North  Synton,  which 
had  been  forfeited  by  Veitch  of  Dawick,  and  which 
belonged  of  old  to  his  own  ancestors  at  the  same 
time  as  Dalgleish,  &c.  In  1451  he  or  his  father,  but 
more  probably  he  as  a  young  venturous  hunter,  paid 
xv.  Ib.  as  a  fine  for  killing  the  King's  deer  in  Ettrick 
Forest,  and  in  1476  he  was  noted  as  debtor  to  His 
Majesty's  exchequer  "octo  libre  solidi  et  residuum"  Excheiu'r 

J        J  til  Rolls,  vol.  in., 

for  a  cow.     His  bolt  had  perchance  pierced  a  royal  pp.  101  and 
vacca  in  that  forest. 

With  two  sons,  William  his  heir,  and  John,  who 
succeeded  to  Glen,  William  and  his  wife  Katrine 
had  two  daughters,  whose  names  are  recorded  Mar- 
garet and  Christian. 

M  ARGARKT  married  James  Vache  of  Dawick,  who  had  in 
1536  new  charter  of  the  barony  of  Dawick,  County  Peebles, 

with  the  estate  of  North  Syntoun,  County  Roxburgh,  annexed  K'S-  Gnat 

r  •  .     .  i     i->         TV      •  i  Seal,  vol.  Hi.. 

thereto  [exceptis  10  mercatis  terrarrumde  Ester  Dawick,  quas  NO.  1585 
Margareta   Cokburn,    sponsa   died   Jacobi   habuit   in   vital! 
redditu].     This  settlement  had  been  made  on  her  marriage 
in  1510  or  thereabouts. 


teenth  centuries. 

CHRISTIAN  married  Robert  Scott  of  Quhitchester 
rcSS]  which  was  included  in  the  Level's  barony  of 
Hawick,  as  well  as  Branxholm,  Cavers,  &c. 

v    TOllmm  CocMmrn  of  §enbcrlan& 

was  the  chieftain  whose  tragic  story  is  one  of  the 
most  cherished  traditions   of  Ettnck   Forest, 
succeeded    to  the    full    possession  of  his   ancestral 
domains  of  Sundirland,  Sundirlandhall,  Bothill,  &c., 
as  well  as  Henderland.     Descended  on  both  sides 
from  warlike  ancestors,  he  inherited  their  fire  and 
daring,  and  love  of  the  excitement  of  the  raid         .is 
habits  were  no  doubt  as  wild  and  lawless  as  those  of 
most  of  his  neighbours,  and  his  proceedings  not  a 
whit  more  justifiable  than  those 
of  Johnie  Armstrong,  or  of  "  the 
King   of    the   Border"   himself 
perhaps.      Commonly  spoken  of 
as  a  mere  border  marauder  or 
freebooter,  it  seems  not  to  have 
_  been  remembered  that  he  was  a 

Seal  of  wmiam  Cockbum  belted  knight,  the  chief  of  an 
old  baronial  family,  from  which 
descended  "  the  Bold  Buccleuch  "  himself.  He  had 
in  all  likelihood  a  host  of  retainers  always  equally 
ready  to  "  ryde  "  as  the  nine  and  twenty  knights  who 
hung  their  shields  in  Branksome  Hall. 


Not  very  long  after  he  came  into  possession  of  the 
estates,  his  hospitality  and  a  reckless  mode  of  life  had 
evidently  diminished  his  resources,  and  caused  him  Kes-  Great 

11  •  -1  i  rr  •          .        Seaf'  Vol>  "•' 

to  sell  several  properties,  some  without  the  Kings  Nos.  3157, 
consent,  in  consequence  of  which  he  forfeited  the 
residue  of  Boithill  or  Bold  in  1508.  It  appears  that 
he  was  again  in  difficulties  in  1522,  for  William 
Lauderof  Haltoun  [or  Hatton]got  letters  of  distraint 
against  him  for  the  value  of  "  150  ovium  matricum, 
price  of  each  5  shillings  ;  and  1  50  ovium  Lanigera- 
rum  le  Wedderis,  pretium  pecii  6  sol.  8  den.,  and 
the  profits  of  the  same  from  the  year  1514  to  29th 
March  1521,  amounting  in  all  to  363  libras  13  sol.," 
for  which  he  had  assignment  of  the  lands  of  Brume- 
law  and  Brigend,  County  Peebles,  with  right  of 
redemption  within  seven  years. 

He  did  not  confine  himself  to  forays  once  in  the 
year  under  the  Michaelmas  moon,  and,  like  his  rela- 
tive, the  Knight  of  Branxholme,  was  not  particular 
as  to  the  district  he  rode  into.  He  had  received  in 
consequence  of  his  proceedings  letters  from  the  Par- 
liament held  in  1527  ordering  him  to  find  pledges 
for  his  leaving  the  lieges  in  peace.  This  was  a  very 
usual  and  very  useless  bond  in  those  days.  Over 
and  over  again  do  we  find  the  Barons  of  Buccleuch, 
Fairnihirst,  Hunthill,  Hundalie,  Edgerston,  Crans- 
toun,  &c.,  signing  undertakings  "  to  serve  the 
wardens  of  the  marches  at  their  possible  power  in 
their  office  of  wardening  and  lieutenancy  for  staunch- 
ing of  feuds,  thefts,  slaughters,  and  inconvenientis, 
and  furth-bering  ye  Kingis  autorite,"  which  they  are 
found  directly  afterwards  setting  at  defiance. 

Cockburn  of  Henderland  and  Scott  of  Tushielaw 
were  no  worse  than  their  neighbours,  and,  if  contem- 


1 86 

porary  opinion  is  to  be  the  guide,  not  more  guilty  or 
more   to    be   reprobated    than    the   warden    of  the 
Western  Marches,  the  Lord  Maxwell  himself,  only 
more  bold  and  open  in  their  proceedings  than  he  was, 
state  Papt's     who    is  mentioned   together  with    "  the    Larde   of 
^o'lanJ,"       Bukleuche,  as  chieff  meynteneris    of  all    offenders, 
w"v,ppf7"    murderouris,  theivis,  and  vthers,  daily  procuring  and 
501, 526.         seeking  ways  and  occasionais  to  the  breche  and  rup- 
ture of  the  peax  between  booth  the  two  realmes." 
Conduct  of  this  kind  was  only  in  accordance  with 
the  customs  of  the  times,  and  the  report  comes  from 
the  enemy's   side.      There    is   a   far   more   serious 
charge  against  Maxwell.     He  was  much  suspected, 
though  nominally  in  ward,  lest  he  should  assist  the 
borderers,  of  having  for  his  own  ends  encouraged 
Armstrong  of  Gilnockie  to  meet  the  King  as  he  did, 
and  there  appears  to  be  grounds  for  the  belief,  seeing 
that  after  he  and  all  his  retainers  were  left  "  hangin 
vpoune  the  growand  trees,"  under  the  King's  own 
hand,  "  a  lettre  was  maid  to  Robert  Lord  Maxwel " 
of  the  lands  and  goods  "  eschete  throw  justefying  ye 
saide  Johnie  to  death."     Cockburn  and  Adam  Scot, 
and  poor  "  Johnie,"  whose  soubriquet  seems  to  tell  us 
that  there  was  much  good  nature  and  kindness  in  this 
bold  borderer,  were  doubtless  amongst  the  most  noted 
of  those  who  were  "  ever  ryding  "  at  this  time  when 
the  lawlessness  of  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
Border  was  extraordinary.    T  hey  were  no  better  off  i  n 
England  than  in  Scotland.     The  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
wrote  in   1522  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  then  Bishop  of 
Durham  and  Lord  of  Norham,  saying,   "  There  is 
more  theftis,  more  extorcyon,  be  Englis  theivis  then 
thair  is  be  all  the  Skottis  in  Scotland." 

James  V.,  then  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  acting 


i87 


upon  the  advice  of  men  who,  like  Cardinal  Beaton, 
his  principal  adviser,  combined  no  doubt  with  jealousy 
of  the  nobility,  a  real  desire  to  improve  the  state  of 
the  country,  set  himself  to  put  down  the  violence  and 
tyranny  of  the  chieftains  both  in  the  north  and  the 
south.  But  he  displayed  on  many  occasions  a  severity 
almost  amounting  to  ferocity  that  no  one  would  have 
expected  from  a  youth  "  whose  steadfast,  brilliant 
blue  eyes,  and  seeming  sweetness  of  expression, 
combined  with  majesty,"  attracted  all  who  came  in 
contact  with  him.  He  had  begun  with  the  High- 
landers, "  and  seeing  that  he  had  dantoned  the  north 
countrie,  and  the  isles  and  thair  throw  fand  grete 
peace  and  rest,  ...  he  rejoiced  when  he  had 
brought  the  wild  Highlands  and  the  isles  to  this 
stability  and  perfectione,  and  set  himself  to  establish 
the  like  peace  in  the  Borders."  He  undoubtedly 
succeeded  in  doing  much  to  restore  quiet  and  order, 
for  "  afterwards  there  was  great  peace  and  rest  a  long 
time,  wherethrow  the  King  had  great  profit,  for  he 
had  ten  thousand  sheep  going  in  Ettrick  Forest,  in 
keeping  by  Andro  Bell,  who  made  the  King  as  good 
count  as  they  had  gone  in  the  bounds  of  Fife." 

The  necessity  for  action  had  been  daily  becoming 
more  pressing  ;  for,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  says,   the 
insolence  of  the  Borderers  had  risen  to  such  a  pitch 
after  the  battle  of  Flodden,  and  the  country  thrown 
into  such  confusion,  King  James  resolved  to  take 
very  severe  measures  against  them.     The  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  the  Lord  Home,  Lord  Maxwell,  Scott  of  sir  Waiter 
Buccleuch,  Ker  of  Fernyhirst,  and  other  powerful  History  of 
chiefs  who  might  have  opposed  the  King's  purposes,  ^^snaj~ 
were  imprisoned  in  separate  fortresses  in  the  low  Grandfather 

T  .  111  -1-1      —  *lrst  Series 

country.     James  then  assembled  an  army  in  which  voL  in.,  p.  51. 

E  I 


1 88 

warlike  purposes  were  united  with  those  of  sylvan 
sport ;  for  he  ordered  all  the  gentlemen  in  the  wild 
districts  which  he  intended  to  visit  to  bring  their 
best  dogs,  as  if  his  only  purpose  had  been  to  hunt 
the  deer  in  these  desolate  regions.  This  was  in- 
tended to  prevent  the  Borderers  from  taking  the 
alarm,  in  which  case  they  would  have  retreated  into 
their  mountains  and  fastnesses,  from  whence  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  dislodge  them.  These  men 
had  indeed  no  distinct  idea  of  the  offences  which 
they  had  committed,  and  consequently  no  appre- 
hension of  the  King's  displeasure  against  them.  The 
laws  had  been  so  long  silent  in  that  desolate  country, 
that  the  outrages  which  were  practised  by  the  strong 
against  the  weak  seemed  to  the  perpetrators  the 
natural  course  of  society,  and  to  present  nothing 
worthy  of  punishment. 

Having  thus  somewhat  treacherously,  it  must  be 
admitted,  lulled  to  sleep  the  suspicions  of  those  he 
meant  to  destroy,  on  the  morning  of  2d  June  1529, 
as  old  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie  commences  some  of  his 
quaint  and  picturesque  descriptions  of  such  scenes, 
"  King  James  gart  blow  his  trumpets,  and  lap  on  his 
horse,  .  .  .  and  passed  out  of  Edinburgh  to  the 
hunting,  with  many  nobles  and  gentlemen  of  Scot- 
land with  him  to  the  number  of  12,000  men,  and 
then  passed  to  Meggitland,  and  hounded  arid 
hawked  all  the  country  and  bounds — that  is  to  say, 
Crammat,  Pappert-law,  St.  Mary's-laws,  Carlaveruck, 
Pitscottie's  Chapil,  Ewindoors,  and  Langhope.  I  heard  sav 

Lanm.,  Edit.     11-111 

1814,  vol.  ii.,   ne  slew  in  these  bounds  eighteen  score  of  harts. 

(42,343-    After  this  hunting  he  hanged  John  Armstrong  of 

Gilnockie   and    his   complices    to    the    number   of 

thirty-six   persons.     ...     He   came   before    the 


King  with  his  foresaid  number  richly  apparelled, 
trusting  that  in  respect  of  his  free  offer  of  his  person 
he  should  obtain  the  King's  favour.  But  the  King, 
seeing  him  and  his  men  so  gorgeous  in  their  apparel, 
with  so  many  brave  men  under  a  tyrant's  command, 
turned  him  about,  and  bade  take  the  tyrant  out  of 
his  sycht,  saying,  What  wants  '  this  knave  that  a 
King  should  have'?  But  John  Armstrong  made 
great  offers  to  the  King  —  that  he  should  sustain 
himself  with  forty  gentlemen  ever  ready  for  service 
on  their  own  cost  without  wronging  any  Scottish-man. 
Secondly,  that  there  was  not  a  subject  in  England, 
Duke,  Earl,  or  Baron,  but  within  a  certain  day  he 
should  bring  him  to  His  Majesty,  either  quick  or 
dead.  At  length,  he  seeing  no  hope  of  favour,  said 
very  proudly — '  It  is  but  folly  to  seek  grace  at  a 
graceless  face  ;  but  had  I  known  this  I  should  have 
lived  on  the  Borders  in  despite  of  King  Harry  and 
you  both,  for  I  know  King  Harry  would  downweigh 
my  best  horse  with  gold  to  know  that  I  am  con- 
demned to  die  this  day.' ' 

The  fate  of  his  not  very  distant  neighbours  has 
been  differently  related,  but  there  seems  every  reason 
to  place  faith  in  the  old  tradition,  as  repeated  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  "  that  the  King  in  the  beginning  of  his  Tales  of  the 
expedition  suddenly  approached  the  castle  of  Piers  Sntian/fv 
Cockburn   of  Henderland,  and  as  that  baron  was  $?n**>  ™1- 

m*i  P*  5 *• 

in  the  act  of  providing  a  great  entertainment  to  wel- 
come him,  James  caused  him  to  be  suddenly  seized 
and  executed.  Adam  Scott  of  Tushielaw,  called  the 
King  of  the  Border,  met  the  same  fate."  The  story, 
as  commonly  told,  was  that  Henderland  was  sitting 
at  dinner  when  a  loud  knock  was  heard,  and  he  was 
informed  that  some  one  wanted  to  see  him.  "  Were  it 


Sir  James 
Bal  four's 
Historical 
Works,  vol. : 
p.  260. 


I9O 

the  King  himself  who  wanted  me,"  said  the  hungry 
chieftain,  "  he  must  wait  till  I  have  had  my  dinner." 
Then  to  his  astonishment  he  was  told  it  was  the 
King  who  was  approaching,  and  despite  his  anxious 
haste  to  make  preparations  to  receive  him  gallantly 
with  utmost  hospitality,  James  rode  up  with  his  fol- 
lowers, and  without  parley  caused  him  to  be  hanged 
over  his  own  door. 

We  know,  however,  that  he  was  "  by  the  King's 
favour  beheaded."  Relentless  as  he  showed  himself 
on  this  occasion,  as  on  many  others,  James  would 
not  have  treated  with  such  ignominy,  we  may  believe, 
a  man  of  his  birth  and  condition.  Sir  James  Balfour 
says — "  The  King,  27  Maii  this  zeir,  causse  behead 
Cockburn  of  Henderland  and  Scote,  the  chieff 
leaders  of  limers  and  broken  men  of  the  Borders." 
It  is  set  down  in  the  records  of  the  time  they  had 
both  been  ordered  to  be  arrested,  and  that  the  war- 
rant to  apprehend  "  ane  misgydit  man,  William  Koc- 
burn  of  Hindirland,"  had  been  sent  to  Buccleuch,  who 
naturally  was  in  no  hurry  to  execute  it,  and  was 
himself  warded,  no  doubt  in  consequence  of  his 
dilatoriness  in  the  matter,  and  that  then  Murray 
arrested  them  both,  and  brought  them  to  Edinburgh, 
where  they  were  tried,  condemned,  and  executed, 
Henderland  on  the  i6th  and  Tushielaw  on  the  i8th 
May.  It  is  not  very  likely,  had  this  been  the  case, 
that  Armstrong  of  Gilnockie  would  have  been  igno- 
rant of  their  fate,  and  come  out  weeks  afterwards  to 
meet  his  sovereign  in  all  the  splendour  of  Border 
chivalry.  Even  had  it  been  true,  which  we  will  not 
credit,  that  James  was  guilty  of  writing  "  a  luving 
letter 

With  his  ain  hand  sae  tenderley, 

To  cum  and  speak  with  him  speidily," 


he  would  have  been  upon  his  guard,  and,  instead  of 
ordering  his  servants  to  hasten  from  Carlinrigg  to 
Gilnockie,  telling  them — 

"  To  make  kinnen  and  capon  ready  then, 
And  venison  in  great  plentie, 
We'll  wellcum  here  our  royal  King, 
I  hope  he'll  dine  at  Gilnockie." 

He  would  have  kept  the  Border  side,  and  not  had  to 
ask  grace  at  a  graceless  face. 

How  even  the  most  accurate  of  contemporary  his- 
torians, who  had  to  depend  chiefly  upon  verbal 
reports  of  the  scenes  they  described,  were  led  into 
mistakes  which  have  been  copied  and  related  as  facts 
in  succeeding  works,  is  shown,  Mr.  Pitcairn  says,  by 

T>-    t  T        i  i  i'ii         r  11  .  Criminal 

Bishop  Lesley,  the  most  reliable  of  them  all,  stating  Trials,  vol.  i., 
in  his  account  of  the  execution  of  the  unfortunate  p'  '9 
Lady  Glamis,  "the  said  ladye  was  brint,  and  her 
husband  hangit  thairfor ; "  whereas  it  is  certain  that 
her  second  husband,  Archibald  Campbell,  the  day 
after  the  horrible  tragedy,  endeavouring  to  escape 
from  Edinburgh  Castle,  "  fell  down,  the  rope  being 
too  short,  and  was  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks." 
Although  Bishop  Lesley  says  "  Cockburn  and  Scot 
were  heidit,  and  their  heids  fixed  upon  the  Tolbuith," 
we  see  that  he  makes  mistakes  sometimes.  Never- 
theless this  statement  may  be  perfectly  correct. 
Even  if  executed  before  their  own  doors,  there  is  no 
reason  why  their  heads  might  not  have  been  sent  to 
be  exposed  on  the  prison  gate  at  Edinburgh.  So  we 
may  believe  in  its  main  features  the  story  handed 
down  in  the  vicinity,  and  so  pathetically  told  in  the 
"  Border  Widow's  Lament "  as  recited  to  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  who,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  various 
published  and  MS.  versions  of  it,  saw  no  reason  to 


192 


Chambers' 
Peeblesshire, 
P-  4'3- 


Ktg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iii., 
No.  1155. 


disbelieve  that  the  Lord  of  Henderland  was  beheaded 
at  his  own  door,  or  to  consider  it  necessary  to  accept 
the  statement  as  correct  which  is  given  in  the  MS. 
Books  of  Adjournal — these  notes,  written  down  by 
different  clerks,  being  well  known  to  be  often  most 
unreliable. 

Those  who  visit  the  place  in  the  wild  glen  called 
the  "  Ladye's  Seat"  may  still  picture  to  their  imagi- 
nation the.  scene  when  the  despairing  wife  sat  there, 
"and  strove  to  drown  amid  the  roar  of  a  foaming 
cataract  the  tumultuous  noise  that  announced  the 
close  of  her  husband's  existence,"  and  for  all  she 
knew  that  of  her  son  William,  who,  however,  was 
spared,  and  committed  to  the  charge  of  his  neighbour 
and  relation  John,  Lord  Hay  of  Yester,  where  he 
appears  to  have  been  well  taken  care  of,  although 
brought  up  in  an  atmosphere  not  very  likely  to  make 
him  a  man  of  different  tastes  and  habits  from  his 
father.  We  find  that  his  guardian  was  not  unfre- 
quently  in  trouble,  and  engaged  in  feuds  along  with 
his  friends  the  Tuedys  of  Drummelzier.  The  Hay's 
lands  marched  with  Henderland  on  St.  Mary's  Loch, 
and  the  families  were  connected  by  marriages. 

Mr.  Chambers,  in  his  History  of  Peeblesshire, 
observes  that  "  the  execution  of  '  Piers  Cockburn ' 
did  not  lead  to  forfeiture  apparently,"  but  this  is  a 
mistake.  On  4th  April  1532  the  King's  charter  was 
dated  bestowing  upon  James  Fleming,  one  of  his 
pages,  and  his  heirs,  "  the  lands  of  Henderland  and 
Sundirlandhall,  with  their  towers,  fortalices,  patron- 
age of  churches  and  chapels  in  the  counties  of 
Peebles  and  Selkirk,  in  his  hands  in  consequence  of 
the  forfeiture  of  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland, 
convicted  of  crimes  against  His  Majesty,  and  con- 


193 

demned  to  death.     And  again,  on   i8th  June  1541, 
he  gave  half  the  lands  of  Sundirlandhall,  with  tower, 
fortalice,  and  mill  thereof,  to  Malcolm,  Lord  Fleming, 
which  had  been  given  to  his  brother  James  in  his  No-  2379- 
minority,  but  revoked  by  the  King  when  he  came  of 
age.     On  2ist  October  in  the  same  year,  Skiffton- 
holme,  in  Annandale,  was  given  on  payment  of  a 
composition  to  John  Ewart,  whose  predecessors  had  ™£'  No- 
held  it  from  William  Cockburn  and  his. 

As  noticed,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Sir  T.  Dick 
Lauder,  Mr.  Riddell  -  Carre,  the  editor  of  the 
Statistical  Account  of  the  Parishes  of  Lyne  and 
Megget,  &c.,  all  concurred  in  calling  the  ill-starred 
Baron  of  Henderland  by  the  family  name  of  Piers, 
and  accepted  the  popular  idea  that  he  and  his  wife 
Marjorie  lay  under  the  stone  in  the  old  chapel  ot 
Henderland;  but  the  records  had  not  then  been 
carefully  examined,  and  the  charters  referred  to 
above  had  been  overlooked.  The  writer,  following 
these  great  authorities,  repeated  the  mistake  in  "  The 
Ruthirfurds  of  that  Ilk"- — corrected,  however,  in  the 
appendix  to  that  memoir — as  well  as  that  of  stating 
that  Margaret  Cockburn,  wife  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  of 
Buccleuch,  was  daughter  of  William  of  Henderland 
and  his  wife  Katherine  Ruthirfurd.  The  dates 
prove  that  she  was  daughter  of  the  second  Piers  de 
Cokburn  of  Henderland ;  most  assuredly  she  was 
not  the  child  of  "  the  daring  freebooter  who  was  P-  s*»  Note- 
beheaded  by  James  V.,"  as  supposed  by  the  editor 
of  Mr.  Riddell-Carre's  work.  Her  son,  Sir  David 
Scott,  dominus  de  Buccleuch,  died  in  1492  ;  William 
Cockburn  of  Henderland  was  executed  in  1529. 
The  romance  of  the  scene,  which  may  be  conjured 
up  when  standing  by  the  remains  of  the  ruined 


194 

stronghold  by  St.  Mary's  Loch,  will  be  lessened  to 
many  by  the  thought  that  the  unhappy  chieftain  was 
not  a  young  knight  of  gallant  presence,  over  whose 
yellow  locks  a  fair  bride  "  made  her  mane,"  but  a 
tough  old  grizzled  warrior,  who  had  seen  more  than 
half  a  hundred  Michaelmas  moons,  and  that  many 
years  of  wild  life  had  been  experienced  by  the  lady, 
whose  name  we  know  not,  since  she  had  entered  the 
"bonnie  bower"  he  had  beautified  for  her  as  his 
bride,  and  all  gone  now  was  the  youthful  beauty  that 
might  have  made  an  impression  upon  that  cold 
heart.  James  V.  certainly  showed,  by  his  treatment 
of  these  Border  chieftains,  that  his  disposition  was 
unrelenting  and  merciless,  as  he  did  on  other  occa- 
sions, such  as  when  with  stern-set  face  he  trotted  his 
horse  hard  against  the  hill,  whilst  poor  old  "  Gray- 
steil,"  weighted  with  heavy  armour,  pressed  up, 
keeping  pace  with  him  in  the  hope  of  getting  one 
kind  word  from  his  old  and  intimate  boy-friend. 
His  feelings  might  have  softened  had  he  thought 
that  he  was  inflicting  a  death-wound  upon  the  brave 
warm-hearted  Douglas  of  Kilspindie.  One  cannot, 
however,  but  read  with  feelings  of  commiseration 
the  account  of  the  last  days  of  this  really  wise  and 
patriotic  sovereign,  who  possessed  many  attractive 
qualities,  and  with  all  the  instincts  of  a  keen  sports- 
man, had  a  love  of  romantic  adventure  and  enter- 
prise which  makes  his  character  an  interesting  one. 

It  is  melancholy  to  read  of  his  miserable  death, 
how  he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  died  i4th 
December  1542,  racked,  it  is  related,  with  remorse, 
and  "pinchid  in  hys  trubled  mind  be  visiounes." 
He  saw  perhaps  in  his  dreams  the  fierce  flames 
curling  around  the  fair  form  of  the  good  and 


195 

beautiful  Lady  Glamis,  and  remembered  when  he 
awoke  how  he  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  urgent 
recommendation  of  the  judges  themselves  to  delay 
her  execution,  "as  time  only  could  show  whether 
her  accusers  were  honest  men  or  had  been  bribed, 
and  had  come  to  know  too  well  by  what  infamous 
falsehoods  she  had  been  betrayed  to  her  dreadful 
death."  The  last  words  of  Johnie  Armstrong,  and 
the  despairing  entreaties  of  the  Lady  of  Hender- 
land,  might  have  seemed  to  sound  in  his  ears. 
James,  who  had,  as  Lord  Somerville  says,  "been  Mtmorieof 
from  his  minoritie  tossed  like  a  tinnes  ball,  sometymes  wBfc,  TOLL, 


under  this  factione  and  then  under  that,"  had  been  p-  3fi2- 
under  baneful  influences  great  part  of  his  life.     The 
magnanimous     and     moderation-loving     Marie     of 
Lorraine  could  do  little  when  she  had  to  contend 
against  the  Cardinal,  Arran,  or  Thomas  Scot. 

There  is  every  reason  to  think  that  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  the  petition  of  young  William 
Cockburn  ever  came  before  him,  and  it  must  not  be 
laid  to  his  charge  that  the  cruel  reply  thereto  was 
sent  with  his  approval  in  February  of  the  year  in 
which  he  died.  It  came  ostensibly  from  "  the  cold 
and  fickle  "  Earl  of  Arran,  the  Governor,  afterwards 
Regent.  His  direction  was  to  Thomas  Scot  the 
Justice-Clerk,  who  died  in  this  same  year,  1542,  and 
perhaps  hastened  that  of  the  unhappy  monarch. 
Archbishop  Spottiswoode  tells  a  curious  incident 
regarding  this  man's  end,  which  has  the  air  of 
authenticity  :  —  "  On  a  night  at  Linlithgow,  as  the 
King  slept,  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  Justice-Clerk 
came  to  him  with  a  number  of  devils,  crying  —  '  Woe 
worth  the  day  that  I  ever  knew  thee  or  thy  service  ; 
serving  thee  against  God  and  his  servants,  I  am 

F  I 


196 

adjudged  to  hell's  torments.'  Thereupon  awakening, 
he  called  for  lights,  and  told  his  servants  what  he 
had  heard  and  seen.  The  next  morning,  by  light  of 

Sfvttiswoaae  f  .  .  r     i        T         • 

History,  p.  71.  day,  advertizenient  was  brought  him  of  the  J  ustice- 
Clerk  his  death,  which  fell  out  just  at  the  time  the 
King  found  himself  so  troubled,  and  in  the  same 
manner  about,  for  he  died  in  great  unquietness, 
iterating  often  the  words,  Justo  Dei  judicio  condem- 
natus  sum.  The  form  of  his  death  answering  his 
dream  so  justly,  made  it  more  terrible."  The  direc- 
tion to  him  in  the  matter  of  William  Cockburn,  the 
younger  of  Henderland,  ran  thus  : — 

"  GUBERNATOR — Justice-Clerk— We  grete  you  weill.  Foras- 
mikill  as  Williame  Cokburn,  son  and  heir  of  umquhile  Williame 
Cokburne  of  Hinderland  hes  menit  him  to  ws,  that  he  is  heavilie 
hurt  throu  ye  haisty  justyfeeing  [execution]  of  his  said  fadir,  and 
fforfaulting  him  thairthrow ;  and  thairfor  desyres  to  have  autentik 
copy  of  ye  dome  and  sentence  gevin  aganis  his  said  fader,  and  of 
all  acts  and  protestatiounis  taken  be  him  at  ye  tyme  :  sa  that  he 
may  prouide  sum  remeid  thairin.  Quarfore  ye  sail  geif  to  him, 
vpon  his  expensis,  ye  autentik  copy  of  ye  dome  and  sentence  and 
process  led  and  gevin  aganis  his  said  fader  in  maner  foirsaid  to  ye 
effect  abone  written.  As  ye  will  ansuer  to  ws  thairupoune,  kepand 
this  precept  for  your  warrant.  Subscriuit  with  cure  hand  at  Edin- 
burgh, ye  xxij  day  of  Januar,  the  zeire  of  God  Imvcxlij. — • 
JAMES,  Gr." 

The  authentic  copy  of  the  doom  and  sentence  thus 
obtained  by  the  unfortunate  son  [who  was  required 
to  pay  for  the  same],  was  as  follows  : — 

"May  1 6,  1529. —  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland  convicted  (in 
presence  of  the  King)  of  high  treason,  committed  by  him  in  bringing 
Alexander  Forestare  and  his  son,  Englishmen,  to  the  plundering  of 
Archibald  Sumeruile,  and  for  treasonably  bringing  certain  Englishmen 
to  the  lands  of  Gknquhome,  and  for  common  thift  and  resett  of  thift, 
on/putting  and  inputting  thereof.  Sentence.—  For  which  cause  and 
crimes  he  has  forfeited  his  life,  lands,  goods,  mweable  and  immove- 
able,  which  shall  be  escheated  to  the  King.— BEHEADED." 


197 

In  William  Cockburn's  father's  case  the  accusation 
was  made,  the  sentence  passed  and  executed,  but  as 
to  his  trial,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  is  a  fable. 

There  must  have  been  some  motive  for  James' 
unforgiving  feeling  towards  Henderland's  son  ;  pos- 
sibly his  morbid  hatred  to  the  Douglasses  made  him 
unwilling  to  show  clemency  to  the  descendant  of  one 
who  had  assisted  them  to  trouble  his  ancestors. 
Looking  over  the  records  of  these  years,  the  perpe- 
trators of  far  more  flagrant  crimes  than  those  laid  to 
the  charge  of  the  Baron  of  Henderland  received 
remission.  There  are  many  persons  of  consequence 
mentioned  in  Pitcairn's  "  Criminal  Trials  "  as  having 
been  charged  with  bringing  Englishmen  into  the 
country  at  this  time.  Malcolm,  Lord  Fleming,  with 
Hunter  of  Polmood,  had  remission  in  1526  "for 
bringing  Inglismen  into  the  realme  in  tyme  of  weir 
in  tresonable  wyse,"  and  with  other  offences  similar 
to  those  of  which  the  Baron  of  Henderland  was 
found  guilty.  The  Somervilles  and  Cockburns  were 
much  intermarried,  so  if  he  did  trouble  any  member 
of  that  family,  it  was  merely  in  the  mode  practised 
every  day  in  Peebleshire  by  the  neighbours  who  had 
feuds  with  each  other. 

As  to  the  accusation  of  his  having  been  "  guilty  of 
thift  and  resett  of  thift,"  it  was  well  known  that  there 
was  not  a  border  laird  who,  if  the  stacks  of  hay  had 
been  on  four  legs,  would  not  have  brought  them 
home  with  the  kye  seized  in  some  not  far  distant 
glen.  His  own  relative,  William  Cockburn  of  Skir- 
ling, was  granted  remission  shortly  after  for  "  treason- 
ably assisting  David  Home  of  Wedderburn."  In 
many  cases  about  that  time  the  most  cruel  murders 
and  other  crimes  brought  no  punishment  upon  the 


198 

guilty,  if  they  could  make  sufficient  "assythment"  to 
the  relatives  of  those  who  had  suffered  at  their  hands, 
unless  that  of  the  vendetta,  which  often  followed  fast 
and  fierce.  James  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier,  Adam 
Tuedy  of  Drava,  William  Tuedy  of  the  Wrae,  John 
Creychton  of  Quarter,  Andrew  Crychton  of  Cardoune, 
and  Thomas  Porteous  of  Glenkirk,  slew  Patrick,  son 
of  William  Veitch  of  Dawick.  They  made  their 
peace,  but  within  a  month  John  Tuedy,  tutor  of 
Drummelziare,  fell  by  the  hand  of  James  Veitch, 
apparent  of  North  Syntoun. 

Ladies'  names  in  the  sixteenth  century  appear 
actually  engaged  as  principals  in  such  doings.  Mar- 
garet Home,  Prioress  of  North  Berwick,  was  called 
upon  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  umbesetting  the 
highway,  and  invading  to  his  slaughter  Oliphant  of 
Kellie,  who  had  doubtless  much  troubled  this  un- 
flinching churchwoman. 


Douglas' 
Peerage,  vol. 
i.,  p.  102. 


Deuchar's 
MS.  Notes. 


vi.  William  Cockburn  of 

got  back  part  of  the  estates  that  belonged  to  his  ill- 
fated  father  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  through 
some  arrangement  made  by  the  Scotts  of  Buccleuch. 
In  1547  Sir  Walter  Scott  had  charter  of  Hender- 
land  from  the  Queen  Regent  after  the  battle  of 
Pinkie,  as  a  reward  for  his  brave  though  fruitless 
efforts  to  retrieve  the  fortune  of  the  day.  Buccleuch, 
the  open-handed  Warden  of  the  March  [which  office 
Marie  of  Lorraine  had  also  bestowed  upon  him], 
appears  to  have  generously  restored  to  his  kinsman 
his  ancestral  home,  to  which  he  returned  with  his 
wife,  Christian  Murray.  This  lady  seems  to  have 
been  the  daughter  of  that  William  Murray  of  the 


199 

good  old  family  of  Blackbarony,  who  married  Janet 
Romanno,  heiress  of  the  estate  so  called.  The 
Romannos  of  that  Ilk  were  an  ancient  race,  and 
have  been  deemed  of  Italian  origin,  and  to  have 
given  their  name  to  their  territory.  There  is  much 
doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  this  idea.  The  name 
is  variously  written :  Rothmaneic,  Rowmannok, 
Romannos,  are  some  of  the  forms  under  which  it  is 
found.  Between  the  years  1165  and  1171  Philip  de 
Euermeles  or  Vermels  gave  to  the  Canons  of  the  P-  '93- 
Holy- Rood  of  Edinburgh  a  carrucate  of  land  in  the 
fief  of  Rothmaneic.  with  pasture  for  1000  sheep. 
Roger  le  Mareschall  had  in  1300  the  lands  of  Halle- 
del-mire  in  Rowmannok.  Jannet  Romannos  granted  ffiJ.,  P.  518. 
to  her  son  William  Murray  the  lands  of  Romannos 
and  the  fourth  part  of  Culross  vie.  Peblis.  Some  two 
centuries  afterwards  the  estate  went  again  by  an  Reg.  Great 
heiress  to  her  husband,  Alexander  Penicuik,  whose 
ancestors  took  name  from  the  lands  of  Penicuke 
[Pen-y-cog,  i.e.  Hill  of  the  Cuckoo].  His  son  was 
the  author  of  the  description  of  Tweeddale  and  other 
works.  He  does  not  say  much  about  his  family 
connections,  but  by  other  marriages  besides  that  of 
Janet  Romannos'  daughter  he  was  allied  to  the  "  old 
and  honourable  Cockburns  of  Henderland,"  for 
whose  name  he  evidently  had  a  partiality. 

William  Cockburn  had  by  his  wife  Christian  two 
sons — George,  who  succeeded  him  in  his  estate,  and 
William,  eventual  proprietor.  Their  mother  had  a 
life  interest  in  some  lands  in  Fruid,  which  must  have 
come  through  the  Erasers  of  that  place.  The 
heiress  Catherine  Eraser  married,  as  already  men- 
tioned, James  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier.  Upon  the 
Fruid  [or  Frood]  burn  are  to  be  seen  the  vestiges  of 


2OO 

an  ancient  fortalice,  supposed  to  have  been  the  abode 
of  this  branch  of  the  family,  whose  ancestor  the  war- 
like Sir  Simon  Fraser,  Lord  of  Tweeddale,  was  so 
celebrated  in  the  time  of  William  Wallace  and 
shared  the  same  fate  as  he  did. 


vii.  (Scorgc   (Hockburn   of   £)cnDcrlan& 

married  Janet,  daughter  of  James  Geddes  of  Rachan, 
whose  eldest  son  William  was  slain  by  the  Tuedys, 
for  which  of  course  it  was  not  long  before  one  of 
that  sept  died,  although  they  got  a  respite  "for 
this  cruel  slauchter  in  1559.  Baillie  of  Lamington 
was  suretie  in  1574  for  Charles  Geddes,  the  grand- 
son of  James,  that  he  would  not  pursue  the  Tuedys 
except  in  due  course  of  law." 

This  Charles  Geddes  had  a  son,  also  called 
Charles,  served  heir  to  his  father  in  Rachan  in  1625, 
and  also  in  half  of  the  village  lands  of  Glenquholm, 
the  fifteen  shilling  lands  of  Quhittislaid  [Whitslaid], 
Abbrn-.,  the  f"ve  shilling  lands  of  Glenkirk,  and  the  five  shilling 
Habits  «  lands  of  Glenquholme-hope,  of  which  Charles  Geddes 
40.  of  Rachan  had  new  charter  to  himself  and  his  son 

S^iTk,  Patrick  in  1S37>  The  other  part  of  these  lands 
NO.  1706.  belonged  to  the  old  family  of  Porteous  [or  Port- 
wyse]  of  Glenkirk,  as  very  commonly  styled,  this 
being  their  seat  latterly;  but  Hawkshaw  was  the 
place  from  which  they  long  took  designation,  and 
adopted  as  their  motto,  "  Let  the  Hauk  shaw." 
Although  very  nearly  related  to  the  Geddes',  they 
were  generally  found  with  the  Creichtons  allied  to 
their  most  vindictive  enemies,  the  Tuedys  or 
Tweedies,  as  the  name  came  to  be  written,  like  that 
of  the  river  upon  whose  banks  they  had  been  settled 


2OI 

from   time   immemorial.      In   1489   Matthew  Glen-  Reg.  Great 
donwyn  of  Glenrath  had  grant  of  the  lands  of  Quhit- 
islaid  and  Glenkirk  in   the  barony  of  Glenquholm 
vie.  Peblis. 

In  1482  confirmation  was  given  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  James  III.  of  the  charter  "  Georgii  Portuus 
Dominii  portionarii  terrarum  de  Balkyasky  [Bal- 
caskie]  et  Ewinstoun  vie.  Fife,"  of  which  he  had 
made  an  excambion  with  John  Strang  for  his  lands 
in  Quhittislade  and  Glenkirk.  Sir  Walter  Scott  "  of 
Bukluch"  and  Kirkurd,  who  married  Margaret 
Cockburn,  resigned,  with  consent  of  their  eldest  son 
David,  to  Sir  John  Balcasky,  chaplain  in  the  Colle- 
giate  Church  of  St.  Nicholas  of  Dalkeith,  all  claim  to  p-  515' 
the  superiority  of  "  Louchwrd,"  together  with  the 
lands  of  Kirkurd.  In  1513  John  Portewis  de  Glen- 
kirk had  charter  from  James  IV.  of  Glenkirk 
and  Quhittislaid,  with  le  outsettis,  &c.,  County 
Peebles,  which  were  in  the  King's  hands,  in  conse-  NO.  3822. 
quence  of  the  alienation  of  the  greater  portion  of 
them  without  the  King's  consent,  and  which  "  pro 
speciale  favore  incorporavit  in  unam  liberam  tenan- 
driam  de  Quhittislaid."  In  1527  confirmation  was 
given  under  the  Great  Seal  of  James  V.  of  the 
charter  of  William  Porteous  of  Glenkirk,  by  which 
he  conveyed  the  superiority  of  the  lands  of  Logan 
"  le  Quarter,  &c.,  infra  tenandriam  suam  de  Quhitt- 
islaid," to  Malcolm,  Lord  Fleming,  to  whom  he  sold 
these  portions. 

Very  great  antiquity  is  claimed  for  the  family  of 
Geddes  of  Rachan,  whose  seat  in  later  times  was  at 
Kirkurd.  Dr.  Pennicuik  says,  when  describing  the 
country  on  the  Water  of  Urde,  "  the  laird  here  is 


chief  of  the  name  of  Geddes,  and  keeps  their  old  pp.* 201",  202, 

note. 


202 

style  of  Rachan."  Mr.  Brown  of  Newhall,  who 
edited  his  predecessor's  works,  observes,  "  Until 
1752  the  large  estate  of  Kirkurd  was  the  resident 
property  of  Geddes  of  Rachan  for  1 100  years,  while 
Rachan,  from  whence  the  title  is  taken,  is  reported  to 
have  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Geddes'  for  1300 
years." 

It  may  be  true — for  it  would  not  be  easy  to  produce 
proof  to  the  contrary — that  these  undoubtedly  old 
Peeblesshire  lairds  descended  from  aboriginal  dwel- 
lers in  Rachan  in  the  fifth  century.  If  they  were 
able  to  trace  their  descent  to  that  distant  age,  we  can 
only  conclude  that  they  kept  their  chronological 
tables  well  in  the  region  of  the  Upper  Tweed.  Their 
priests,  like  those  of  the  Polynesians  or  the  Tohungas 
of  the  Maoris  [whose  feuds  about  lands  were  as 
bitter  as  those  of  the  Tweedys  and  Veitches,  &c.], 
perhaps  preserved  the  heraldic  sticks  of  their  great 
chiefs'  families,  and  handed  down  by  religiously 
guarded  oral  traditions  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion the  stories  of  their  deeds.  However  this  may 
be,  there  seems  no  question  as  to  the  Geddes  family 
having  held  lands  in  the  district  from  very  remote 
times. 
R.R.stodart's  Mr.  Stodart  says  that  Rachan  and  Kirk-Urd  were 

Scottish  Arms.  .        .     .  ,  - 

vol.  a.,  p.  269.  were  acquired  by  them  after  1406.  Ladye-Urde 
then  belonged  to  John  Geddes,  descended  of  the 
family  of  Geddes  of  that  Ilk.  This  John  "  gert  be 
biggit  and  endowed  the  Chapel  of  St.  Mary  del 
Geddes,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Andrew,  Peebles.  In 
1434  John  of  Geddes  resigned,  with  staff  and  baton, 
in  presence  of  Walter  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier,  half  of 
nts Pare.  Ladye-Urd,  in  Kirkurd,  to  Walter  Scott  of  Mor- 
'vl  '  thyngton  [Murdieston],  who  gave  new  charter  of  it 


t 


203 

"  to  ane  honest  man  William  of  Geddes."  Matthew 
of  Geddes  had,  with  Sir  Thomas  Murray,  a  safe 
conduct  for  six  months  in  1405  from  Henry  IV.  If 
they  were  settled  on  the  Urde  Water  in  earlier  times, 
the  lands  must  have  been  held  by  them  as  vassals  of 
Edward  Cockburn  and  his  successors,  and  after- 
wards of  the  Scotts  of  Kirkurd.  James  Geddes  de 
Kirkhwrde  was  served  heir  in  1632  to  his  father 
"  in  dicta  baronia  de  Kirkhurde."  County 

Hugh  Cockburn,  son  of  the  Knight  of  Skirling,  48. 
and  his  son,  held  part  of  Kirkurd  in  1602.  There 
were  many  quarrels  regarding  their  lands  of  Quhitt- 
islaid,  in  Glenquholm,  and  North  Synton,  which 
latterly  belonged  to  the  Veitches,  and  fierce  were  the 
feuds  to  which  they  gave  rise.  Janet  Geddes,  wife 
of  George  Cockburn  of  Henderland,  had  the  liferent 
of  Quhittislaid.  This  was  a  different  place  from 
Quhittislaid  in  Selkirkshire,  which,  with  Dalglese, 
once  belonged  to  the  Cockburns,  but  afterwards  to 
the  Scotts.  Thomas  Scott  of  Quhitslaid,  Porteous 
of  Halkshaw,  and  Geddes  of  Kirkurd,  married  daugh- 
ters of  Walter  Scott  of  Harden  by  his  wife  Mary, 
"  the  Flower  of  Yarrow,"  daughter  of  Scott  of  Dry- 
hope,  thus  adding  additional  links  to  the  relationship 
of  the  families.  Margaret  Scott,  heir  of  Robert  ^- xix" 
Scott  of  Quhitslaid,  son  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  of 
Quhitslaid,  was  served  heir  26th  August  1647  to 
Ettrickhous,  in  the  regality  of  Melrose.  George 
Cockburn  of  Henderland  died  in  1571,  and  the  inven-  Edln"3Tt°l, 
tory  of  his  estate  was  given  up  with  his  will  by  his  vol<  "'• 
son  Archibald  when  he  became  of  age  in  1575. 

vin.  2Vrd)ibal&  dLotkburn  of  Jpenberlanb 

did    not  long  enjoy  the   possession  of  his  ancient 

G   I 


2O4 

heritage,  dying  unmarried  or  without  issue.       His 
uncle  William  came  into  his  place. 


ix.  JGBUUam  Olockburn  of  j|ett&erlan&1 

second  son  of  William  by  his  wife  Christian  Murray, 
was  informed  against  on  2d  June  1597,  "for  not 
finding  caution  to  join  the  general  band."  As  this 
was  but  a  few  years  before  his  death,  he  may  have 
laboured  under  similar  disabilities  as  Porteous  of 
Hawkshaw,  and  been  "  troubled  with  a  hevy  seiknes 
of  the  poplicie."  His  son  and  successor  seems  to 
have  been  a  most  unbusiness-like  man,  to  say  the 
least,  and  had  probably  neglected  the  matter.  His 
wife's  name  was  Katherine  Veitch  or  Vache,  whether 
of  Dawick  or  North  Synton  is  not  certain,  but  most 
probably  she  was  his  kinswoman,  the  daughter  of 
ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  "  William  Veche  of  Daick,"  for  whom  William  Cock- 
burn  was  security  in  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
pounds  that  he  would  appear  when  called  upon,  and 
meantime  keep  the  King's  peace. 

This    family   of   French,    or  perhaps,    like    their 

neighbours   the    Romannos,  of   Italian    origin,   was 

early  settled  in  the  county  of  Peebles.     Amongst 

those  reported  as  coming  from  there  whose  names  are 

inscribed  on  the  Ragman  Roll  was  William  le  Vache. 

Barnabe  le  Vache  de  Dauyk  had  charter  of  the  lands 

of  North  Syntoun  from  Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas, 

Nisbet's          m   T4°7-     The  family  carried  anciently,    "argent  a 

Edlt^i,      cow's  ^aci  erased,  sable"  by  modern  custom  multi- 

p-  341-  plied  to  the  number  three,  two,  and  one.     A  family, 

the  traditional  origin  of  which  is  given  by  Mr.  Nisbet, 

long  existed  in  Spain,  and  bore  for  their  coat  "  six 

testes  de  Vaches"  as  speaking  to  their  name  Cabez  de 


205 

Vacca.     One  may  hear  to-day  in  the  Channel  Islands 

an  auctioneer  extolling  the  merits  of  "  una  magnifica 

vacca."     By  Katherine  Vache  the  laird  of  Hender- 

land  had,  with  a  son  William,  two  daughters,  Kathe- 

rine and  Elizabeth,  who  were  co-heirs  of  the  lands 

that  came  through  their  grandmother,  and  of  those 

that  William  Geddes  was  served  heir-portioner  to  in 

1606,  which  belonged  to  Thomas  Porteous  of  Glen- 

kirk,  his  grandfather  on  his  mother's  side.     Katherine  xviii 

Cockburn,  the  eldest  daughter,  married  James  Scott  96- 

of  the   family  above    mentioned    of  Quhitslaid,    in 

Selkirkshire,  and  as  she  inherited  as  heir-portioner 


,     .  .  /~v    i  •      i    •  i     •        /~«i       11  i        r   Generates,  Hi., 

part  ot  the  other  yuhitslaid  in   (jlenholm,  and  ol  28. 

Glenkirk  in  same  barony,  some  misapprehension  has 

arisen.     Elizabeth,  the  second  daughter,  had  a  similar 

retour.     She  married  William  Murray,  of  the  family  ibid.,  D.  139. 

of  Stanhope.     In  1654  "  William  Murray  of  Stenhop" 

was  served  heir  to  his  brother  John,  eldest  son  of 

Sir  David  Murray  of  Stanhope,  in  part  of  Quhittis-  inquisit. 

laid  or  Whitslaid,  which  now  belongs  to  a  scion  of 


the  once  potent  race  of  Tweedie,  as  the  name  has  Cp"e"£s  xxiii 
been  written  for  two  centuries,  and  who  also,  by  one  »• 
of  the  strange  turns  of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  possesses 
Rachan,    sold  by  James  Geddes  in    1752   to  John  R.R.stodart's 
Carmichael  of  Skirling,  fourth   Earl  of  Hyndford. 
The  existing  family's  ancestors  long  possessed  the 
barony  of  Oliver,  holding  it  from  the  preceptors  of 
Torphichen. 


x.  William  OI0ckburn  of 

was  not  a  man  of  energy  or  prudence,  nor  in  any  way 
fitted  to  improve  the  position  of  this  family,  now 
sinking  in  importance  as  times  became  changed,  and 


2O6 


they  could  not  gather  their  retainers  together,  and 
satisfy  them  with  a  share  in  the  results  of  a  successful 
raid.  His  name  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
chronicles  of  the  time  ;  most  commonly  it  is  for 
neglect  of  some  public  duty,  and  not  appearing 
where  he  should  have  been.  On  ;th  June  1599  he 
was  summoned,  with  his  father  and  his  sister's  hus- 
band, James  Scott,  for  not  finding  law-burrows  for 
James  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier.  This  representative 
of  "  the  domineering  race"  was  in  the  end  the  ruin  of 
his  family.  He  regarded  no  law,  human  or  divine, 
and  was  guilty  of  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  Mary 
Veitch,  widow  of  James  Geddes  of  Glenhegdon, 
mercilessly  murdered  by  this  desperado  and  his 
friends  in  the  most  cowardly  manner  in  the  Cowgate 
of  Edinburgh,  stated  that  "  it  is  not  unknawne  how 
many  slaughters  have  been  committed  upon  them  by 
James  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier."  He  married  the 
widow  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  and  his 
treatment  of  Sir  William's  mother,  "  Dame  Jean 
Herries,  Ladye  Skirling,"  related  in  the  notice  of 
that  family,  must  have  rendered  him  especially 
obnoxious  to  the  Cockburns.  He  surpassed  perhaps 
the  wildest  and  most  savage  of  his  redoubted  ances- 
tors, the  formidable  Lords  of  Thane's  Castle,  who 
ibid.,  P.  us.  had  for  generations  acted  like  the  old  robber-  barons 
of  the  Rhine,  whose  strongholds,  perched  on  inacces- 
sible rocky  pinnacles  above  that  river,  their  castle  of 
Tinnies,  as  it  came  to  be  called,  built  upon  the 
summit  of  the  lofty  knoll  towering  over  the  plain  of 
Drummelzier,  resembled  more  than  any  other  in 
Scotland. 

Here   they   were    accustomed    to    exercise    their 
feudai  rights  to  the  extremest  excesses.     "  Travellers 


Chambers' 
Peeblesshlre, 
p.  119. 


Ibid.,  p.  124. 


Pennicuik's 


passing  by  Thane's  or  Tennis  Castle  were  com- 
pelled to  strike  sail,  salute,  and  pay  homage  to 
these  haughty  barons." 

It  is  related  of  this  James  of  Drummelzier's 
grandfather  that,  having  been  told  that  some 
audacious  stranger  with  a  small  retinue  had  con- 
temptuously passed  along  in  sight  of  his  castle, 
"  fuming  with  rage,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
sixteen  lances,  all  mounted  on  white  horses  like 
himself,  and  pursued  them  hot-foot,  and  overtaking 
them,  imperiously  demanded  that  the  man  he  sought 
should  be  instantly  given  up  to  that  corporal  punish- 
ment he  was  in  the  habit  of  inflicting  in  such  cases. 
But  what  was  the  proud  Tweedie's  discomfiture 
when  the  stranger  came  forward  and  announced 
himself  as  James  the  Fifth,  King  of  Scotland  ! 

"  Throwing  himself  on  his  knees,  he  received  the 
gracious  pardon  of  his  sovereign,  coupled  with  a  few 
befitting  admonitions,  and  then  he  slunk  back  to  his  sir  T.  pick 
barbarous  hold  with  humbled  and  mortified  pride."      Scottish 


Over  the  gate  of  their  castle  was  carved  the  fierce  x'™"'  p'  43' 
bull's  head,  which  many  a  time  had  been  looked  on 
with  fear  by  prisoners  of  the  persecuted  race  who 
carried  the  milder  vach.es  on  their  shield.  Over  the 
grim  emblem  of  their  power  was  the  motto,  Thol 
and  Think.  Not  a  few  unfortunates  had  reason, 
doubtless,  to  think  much  of  what  they  had  been 
compelled  to  thol  at  their  hands.  The  chiefs  of  this 
family,  who  succeeded  the  Frasers  as  the  ruling  one 
in  Upper  Tweeddale,  had  a  strong  following  of  their 
own  name.  Oliver  Castle,  Drava,  Wrae,  Fruid,  &c., 
were  seats  of  powerful  cadets.  It  was  in  conse- 
quence of  a  quarrel  about  Catherine  Frisell,  heiress 
of  Fruid,  who  was  his  ward,  and  whom  he  wanted 


208 


Keg.  Great 
Sea!,  vol.  iii., 
No.  1079. 


Chambers' 
Publesshire, 
p.  154. 


to  marry  to  his  son  Malcolm,  that  John  Lord 
Fleming  was  slain.  She  married  James  Tuedy, 
nephew  of  John  of  Drummelzeare.  The  Tuedys 
had  to  "satisfy"  Malcolm  Fleming  for  the  loss  of 
his  bride-elect  and  murder  of  his  father  with  a 
solatium  of  the  lands  of  Urrisland  in  Glenquholm. 

The  end  of  James,  last  Lord  of  Drummelzier, 
was  miserable,  but  whatever  may  have  been  the 
injustice  he  was  subjected  to,  it  was  a  merited  retri- 
bution. He  had  by  his  conduct  estranged  not  only 
the  Cockburns,  his  relatives,  and  other  neighbours, 
but  those  of  his  own  race. 

In  1585  William  Foullarton  of  Airds  was  suretie 
that  James  Tweedie  of  Fruid  and  his  tennants  "  sail 
be  skaythless  in  their  bodies,  gudis,  geir,  &c.,  from 
said  James  Tweedie  of  Drummelzier."  In  the  end 
he  is  found  a  broken-down  man  in  the  Tolbooth 
prison  of  Edinburgh,  supplicating  compassion  from 
the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council,  to  whom  he  stated 
that  "  he  has  been  deteaned  in  ward  within  the 
Tolbuith  of  Edinburgh  five  years  and  four  months 
bye-gane,  at  the  instance  of  John,  Lord  Hay  of 
Yester,  his  cousin-german,  both  in  his  own  name 
and  under  color  and  pretext  of  other  men's  names. 
Lykeas  he  has  not  onlie  unnaturallie  deteaned  the 
said  compleanar  in  wofull  captivitie,  but  apprysed 
his  lands  and  heritage  with  the  legal  reversion  of 
the  same,  and  intromettit  with  the  whole  rents 
thairof,  whilk  will  far  surmount  onie  burthen  or 
debt  he  can  lay  to  the  compleanar's  charge,  &c., 
mynding  thairby  to  appropriate  to  himselffe  be 
forged  pleyes  his  haill  estates  and  rents,  but  also  to 
deteane  the  compleanar's  person  in  ward  till  his 
dying  day;  whereas  he  having  all  that  belongs  to 


209 

the  compleanar,  he  has  nothing  to  susteane  him- 
selffe,  but  is  like  to  starve  unlesse  the  goodman  of 
the  Tolbuith  supplied  his  necesair  wants."  It  was 
decreed  by  the  Lords  that  Lord  Yester  should 
either  release  Drummelziare  or  allow  him  a  weekly 
maintenance,  to  be  fixed  by  the  Lords  of  the 
Council.  He  consented  to  his  release  7th  August 
1628,  no  doubt  feeling  himself  strong  enough  to 
defy  him  henceforth  ;  aud  thus  disappeared  from 
the  scene  this  turbulent  and  once  potent  chief.  He 
died  soon  after,  for  on  3d  February  1631  there  is 
recorded  the  service  of  "  Jacobus  Tueydie  hseres 


Jacobi  Tueydie  de  Drumailzear  patris  in  terris  de  %,"tte  \o\ 
Fruid  in  baronia  de  Oliver  Castle."  Notwithstand-  xii-.  p-  69- 
ing  all  the  excesses  committed  by  him,  James 
Tuedy  was  summoned,  with  Veitch  of  Dawick  and 
others  who  had  suffered  much  at  his  hands,  to  give 
advice  to  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council  as  to  the 
best  means  of  keeping  peace  on  the  Borders.  He 
sat  also  in  Parliament  for  the  county  of  Peebles  in 
1608.  It  is  not  a  matter  for  surprise,  considering 
the  impotence  of  the  Government  in  these  districts, 
that  the  Hays  kept  Drummelzier  and  most  of  the 
other  lands  belonging  to  him,  notwithstanding  that, 
as  Mr.  Chambers  says  in  his  interesting  work,  "  the 
feuds  in  Peebles-shire  had  been  aggravated  by  the 
outrageous  conduct  of  William,  Master  of  Yester, 
whose  father  held  the  offices  of  Sheriff-  Principal  of 
the  county  and  Provost  of  Peebles."  The  star  of 
the  Hays  was  now  in  the  ascendant,  for  John  Hay, 
who  thus  crushed  his  kinsman,  was  created  Earl  of 
Tweeddale  in  1  646.  Amongst  the  other  possessions 
of  the  Tuedys  were  the  Horne-Huntaris  lands  in  the 
barony  of  Innerleithen,  which  at  one  time  belonged 


2IO 


Re?.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  3568. 


Jnquisit. 

Getitrales, 

7621. 


Douglas' 
Peerage, 
vol.  ii.,  pp. 
276,  37».  44>. 
446,  508,  600, 
605. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal*  vol.  ii., 
No.  3673. 


R.  R.  Stodart's 
Scottish  A  rms, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  223. 


to  William  cle  Mantelant,  who  had  the  valley  of  the 
Leithen  water,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Ouhair  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Tweed.  This  territory  was 
granted  by  James  IV.  to  John  Tuedy,  Lord  of 
Thane's  Castle  in  Drummelziare,  the  reddendo 
being  "two  flatus  (viz.  blastis)  unius  cornu  ad  ex- 
citandum  Regis  et  ejus  venatores  cum  contingerent 
eos  esse  in  Venatione  in  le  Kingis-hall-wallis.1 
Thomas  Scott  of  Whitslaid  held  the  Horne-Huntaris 
lands  in  1620,  and  his  son  Thomas  was  served  heir 
thereto  in  1677.  The  connections  of  the  Tuedys, 
whose  ancestor  Johannes  de  Tueda  was  owner  of 
lands  on  the  river  from  which  they  took  name  in 
the  reign  of  Alexander  II.,  were  widespread  and 
powerful.  Besides  their  neighbours,  the  Hays  of 
Yester,  who  were  allied  by  more  than  one  marriage, 
the  Lords  Somerville,  the  Kers  of  Cessford, 
the  Douglasses  of  Drumlanrig,  and  other  eminent 
families,  were  nearly  related  to  the  house  of  Drum- 
melzier. 

Mr.  Chambers  passes  lightly  over  the  transgres- 
sions of  the  Cockburns,  and  does  not  record  many 
of  them,  whilst  he  is  inclined  to  be  as  severe  as  other 

1  It  has  been  imagined  from  their  motto,  "  Free  for  a  blast,"  that  this 
grant  had  been  made  to  an  ancestor  of  the  Clerks,  Baronets  of  Penicuik  ;  but 
this  is  a  mistake.  Their  progenitor,  John  Clerk,  merchant  in  Paris,  having 
made  money,  bought  the  estates  which  had  belonged  from  distant  times  to  the 
Pennicuiks  of  that  Ilk.  In  1507,  James  IV.,  a  keen  sportsman,  granted  anew 
to  John,  son  and  heir-apparent  of  Sir  John  Pennecuke  and  his  heirs  whomso- 
ever the  lands  and  barony  of  Pennecuke,  with  its  pendicles,  Newbigging  and 
Lufnois,  with  the  tower  of  Pennecuke  called  Rikillis,  and  the  church  of  Penne- 
cuke and  advowson  thereof  in  the  King's  hands,  in  consequence  of  the  aliena- 
tion of  the  greater  part  thereof  without  consent,  the  reddendo  being  three 
blasts  of  a  horn  blown  according  to  the  usual  custom  of  Edinburgh,  dr>c. 

Sir  George  Clerk  was  allowed  to  use  the  second  motto  above  referred  to  in 
1807,  no  doubt  in  reference  to  this  charter  of  the  lands  he  owned.  The  original 
one  of  his  family  was  "Amat  victoria  curam,"  adopted  in  1672-4,  when 
Pennicuik  was  bought  by  John  Clerk,  his  ancestor. 


211 

writers  regarding  the  doings  of  the  no  doubt  im- 
petuous and  domineering  Barons  of  Drummelzier,  of 
which  place  ''  Roger,  son  of  F  inlay  del  Twydyn 
[whose  name  is  found  in  the  Ragman  Roll]  had 
charter  from  Robert  Bruce  in  1326  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  Sir  William  Fraser,  by  staff  and  baton  before  ^/T^p'"^! 
the  great  men  of  the  realm."  This  Roger  had  charter 
from  the  monarch  on  i2th  June  in  the  previous 
year  of  all  the  land  in  Clifton,  which  belonged  to 
Eva  of  Rothirforde  and  Marjorie  of  Rothirforde, 
the  granddaughters  of  "  Monsire  Nichol  de  Rothir- 
forde, Chevalier  d'Escoce." 

We  may  take  for  granted  that  there  were  many 
brave,  generous  spirits  amongst  the  long  list  of  the 
Lords  of  Drummelzier,  men  who  would  have  been 
ashamed  of  the  deeds  committed  by  the  last  chieftain 
of  Thane's  Castle.  The  story  of  their  race  is  per- 
haps no  darker  than  that  of  many  of  their  contem- 
poraries in  Upper  Tweeddale,  some  of  whom  have 
descendants  remaining  at  this  day  holding  high 
estate  amongst  the  magnates  of  the  kingdom.  So 
far  as  their  early  neighbours  in  Lanarkshire  and 
near  relatives  the  Cockburns  are  concerned,  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  some  of  them  were  equally 
addicted  to  giving  "  deidly  straikis  with  thair 
whingeares,"  as  the  Tuedys,  with  whom  they  inter- 
married, fought,  and  left  stark  sometimes  upon  the 
heather,  and  in  whose  company  at  others  committed 
"  cruel  slauchteris."  We  find,  as  has  been  related, 
Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland  and  his 
brother  Edward  producing  remission  for  the  killing 
of  Roger  Tuedy;  and  upon  the  same  day  in  1458 
Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling  and  his  brother 
James  for  the  killing  of  Walter  Tuedy."  All  that 

H   I 


21  2 


can  be  hoped  for  is  that  these  "  inconvenientis  "  took 
places  in  fair  fight,  or  at  least  on  "  suddane  chaud- 

mellee." 

William  Cockburn  of  Henderland  was  a  burgess 
of  Edinburgh  city.  Although  his  father  and  he 
did  not  find  law- burrows  for  James  Tuedy  of 
Drummelzier  in  1596,  he  had  been  security  in  1584, 
along  with  William  Sinclair  of  Rosslyn,  for  him  and 
Adam  Tuedy  of  Drava,  then  both  in  prison  at 
Linlithgow,  that  forthwith,  on  their  release  there- 
from, they  should  remove  to  the  Tolbuith  of  Edin- 
burgh to  await  their  trial.  Whether  they  did  so,  or 
left  their  sureties  to  settle  as  best  they  might,  is  not 
mentioned.  William  Cockburn  was  "  the  laird  of 
Henderland,"  reported  as  amongst  those  absent 
from  the  Wappen-Shawing  on  the  burrow-moor  of 
Peebles  on  15th  June  1627. 

There  were  many  influential  men  on  the  list  of 
absentees  on  this  occasion,  amongst  them  Stuart  of 
Traquair,  the  Laird  of  Glen,  the  Laird  of  Covinton, 
Murray  of  Philiphaugh,  who,  living  nearer,  had  not 
as  good  reasons  to  show  as  the  Lord  Borthwick, 
Lord  St.  John  of  Torphichen,  the  Lord  Morton,  or 
the  Lord  Garlics,  reported  also  absent.  Such  meet- 
ings tended  to  promote  order  and  the  recognition  of 
the  Government,  not  an  accustomed  thing  in  Upper 
Tweeddale.  That  the  attendance  at  assemblies  of 
the  kind  should  be  as  numerous  as  possible  was  a 
natural  desire  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  and  the 
liability  to  be  called  upon  to  obey  summons  upon 
public  business  was  extended  as  far  as  practicable. 
The  Lords  of  the  Council  had  in  1533  enacted  "that 
ane  man  havand  in  possessioune  ane  hundreth 
pundis  worth  of  gudis  is  halden  ane  substancius 


man,  and  is  halden  to  underlie  ye  actes  and  pro- 
clamaciounes."  There  is  one  notice  of  William 
Cockburn  in  1605  which  points  to  his  being  in  diffi- 
culties soon  after  his  succession  to  the  estate,  brought 
about  perhaps  by  the  disarranged  condition  of  his  Reg  0fPrivy 
father's  affairs.  He  was  denounced  for  not  paving-  Council,  vol. 

1  J  O         yjj^        p       gg^ 

"  the  hundreth  pundis  stipend  furth  of  the  parsonage 
and  vicarage  lands  of  Henderland  during  the  years 
specified  in  the  complaint." 

In  1623  he  was  served  heir  to  his  father  William 
in  portion  of  the  lands  of  Brymmelaw  and  Brigend  /»{«««'• 
that  belonged  to  his  forefathers,  and  had  been  pledged 


County 


viu. , 


by  William,  the  decapitated  Baron    Henderland,  in  pfsbies, 
1522  to  Lauder  of  Haltoun.     He  had  no  family,  and  2'9- 
was  succeeded  in  Henderland,  &c.  by  his  kinsman — 


Samuel  (Horkburn  of  ^enberlanft,  who 

was  retoured  "  hseres  Willelmi  Cockburn   de    Hen- 
derland  abavi"  [his  great-grandfather's  father],  22d  NO.  1718.' 
June   1630.      He  was  the  son  of  the  younger  John 
Cockburn  of  the  Glen,  who  appears,  from  his  bestow- 
ing   this    name    upon    his  son,    to    have   become   a 
reformed  character,  perhaps  an  elder  of  the  Kirk. 
Andro  Murray  of  Romanno,  his  relative,  however, 
was  an   elder,  but  nevertheless  was  not  the  most 
saintly  person  in    his   parish,    being   adjudged    "to  Chamber^ 
stand  on  the  stool  of  repentance  for  calling  his  fellow-  Peebiaskin, 
elder   James    Douglas   a  liar   in    the    time  of  the  p'  ' 
sitting  within  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

We  do  not  know  much  about  the  latest  Cockburn 
of  Henderland.  He  appears  to  have  been  very 
unfortunate,  being  oppressed  by  debts.  In  1638  he 
is  found  "  incarcerat  in  the  Tolboith  of  Edinburgh 


Reg.  of  Deeds, 
vol.  512. 


Inquisit. 

Relorn. 

Abbrev., 

County 

Peebles, 

xxv.,  43. 


Ibid.,  County 
Selkirk,  xxix., 
182. 


214 

by  horning  at  the  instance  of  James  Dischington,  in 
consequence  of  his  being  surety  to  a  bond  granted 
by  his  natural  son,  Arthur  Cockburn.  But  at  the 
earnest  request  of  the  said  Samuel  Cockburn  of 
Henderland,  and  for  the  love  and  favour  which  the 
granter  bore  him,  the  said  James  Dischington 
engaged  on  1 8th  December  of  that  year  to  suspend 
the  letters,  and  to  allow  the  said  Samuel  to  go  at 
liberty  without  any  security  for  the  money."  It 
would  have  been  well  had  James  Dischington  evinced 
his  affection  a  little  sooner,  and  saved  the  Laird  of 
Henderland  from  being  subjected  to  the  indignity. 
Looking  back  upon  the  story  of  "the  Old  and 
Honorable  Cockburns  of  Henderland,"  it  reads  like 
the  irony  of  fate  that  they  should  have  disappeared 
from  the  land  with  a  Samuel.  The  estates  passed  in 
the  first  instance  to  the  Carnegies,  and  subsequently 
to  various  families.  On  nth  May  1658  the  retour 
was  dated  of  "James  Erie  of  Southesk,  Lord 
Carnegy  of  Kynnaird  and  Leuchars,  as  heir-maill  of 
his  father,  David  Erie  of  Southesk,  to  his  extensive 
estates  in  the  counties  of  Forfar,  Fife,  Dumfries,  &c., 
and  to  "  the  lands  of  Henderland,  within  the  parochin 
of  St.  Bryd,  County  Peebles,"  also  those  of  Greves- 
toune,  Orchyard,  Newhall,  and  Fetham,  in  the  same 
parish.  In  the  retour,  dated  5th  May  1569,  of 
"  Robertus  Comes  de  Sowthesk"  to  his  father  James, 
the  old  Cockburn  properties  of  Broomielaw  and 
Brigend  are  also  mentioned,  as  well  as  Hender- 
land, &c. 

Samuel  had  a  son  William,  who  married  the 
daughter  of  John  Govane  of  Cardrona,  County 
Peebles.  He  was  still,  more  Scotice,  called  "  of 
Henderland,"  when  in  1653  he  bound  his  son  John 


215 

"  prentice  to  George  Robertson,  Goldsmyth,  Burgess 
of  Edinburgh,"  who  "  for  the  fee  of  300  merks 
engaged  to  teach  the  said  prentice  his  craft,  and  to 
furnish  him  with  bed  and  buird  honestlie  as  be- 
comes." 

Such  was  the  fate  of  the  lineal  male  heir  of  the 
powerful  Baron  Perys  de  Cokburn  of  Henderland 
and  Sundirlandhall,  and  his  "  wyffe  Mariory,"  whose 
descendants  in  the  female  line  enjoy  the  Dukedom 
of  Buccleuch. 

The  story  would  make  a  fitting  page  in  Sir  Ber- 
nard Burke's  interesting  "  Vicissitudes  of  Families." 

The  Cockburns  of  Henderland  bore  anciently,  as 
has  been  seen,  ermine  three  cocks  gules,  two  and  one. 
Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount  blazoned  their  arms, 
argent  a  mollet  azure  between  three  cocks  gules. 
Nisbet  assigns  to  them  the  same  coat.  The  mullet 
was  no  doubt  upon  the  seal  which  William,  the  unfor- 
tunate Laird  of  Henderland,  used  in  executing  a 
deed  in  1499,  but  it  is  not  visible  upon  the  imperfect 
impression  thereof,  of  which  a  copy  is  given  above. 
Margaret  Cockburn,  wife  of  John  Lindsay  of  Wau- 
chopedale,  and  afterwards  of  William  Hay  of  Tallo, 
possessed,  as  has  been  noticed,  a  family  seal  upon 
which  these  arms  were  engraved. 


COCKBURN   OF    SKIRLING, 

PEEBLESSHIRE. 


Keg .  Great 
Seal,  vol.  i., 

&I44, 
0.88. 


Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
voL  ii. 
Critical 
Remarks  on 
Ragman 
Roll,  p.  39. 


As  blazoned  by  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount, 
Lyon  King  of  Arms,  1542. 

I.  THIS  family  descended  from  William,  fourth 
son  of  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and 
Langton.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  his  second 
marriage  with  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  John  de 
Monfode.  On  8th  December  1380  he  had  confir- 
mation from  the  Crown  of  the  charter  to  himself  and 
his  children,  whom  failing,  to  his  brother  Edward, 
whom  failing,  to  his  sister-german  Agnes,  of  the 
barony  of  Scraling  or  Skirling,  in  the  county  of 
Peebles,  with  patronage  of  the  church  of  Scraling, 
resigned  in  his  favour  by  his  half-sister,  Margaret 
Domina  de  Cragi,  and  her  husband,  Sir  John 
Stewart,  called  "  consanguineus "  by  Robert  III., 
being  the  son  of  Sir  Robert  Stewart  of  Durrisdier. 
Margaret  was  his  mother's  daughter  by  her  first 
husband,  John  de  Cragi,  "  Dominus  ejusdem."  He 
also  got  from  them  at  the  same  time  the  lands  of 
Heudis  or  Hebbeddis  [i.e.,  the  Heads],  in  the  barony 


of  Bradwod,  County  Lanark,  which  had  been  united 
into  the  one  barony  of  Scraling,  held  blench  for  three 
broad-headed  arrows,  and  had  also  gift  of  Roberts- 
land,  an  adjoining  estate  in  Lanarkshire. 

All  these  lands  were  the  heritage  of  his  mother, 
Margaret  de  Monfode,  who  had  settled  them  upon 
her   daughter,    Margaret   de    Cragi.      The  original 
grant  of  them  from  King  David  I.  to  her  ancestor, 
John   de    Monfode,    Knight,   comprised    the   "  haill 
baronie  of  Scrauelyne,  with  the  advocation  of  the  Robertson's 
of  the  church  thereof,  and  the  lands  of  Robertistoune,  NOS.  10,  n. 
County  Lanark."    Robert  Bruce  confirmed  the  charter 
also    of    Braidwod,     Zulischelis,    and      Heudis     or 
Hebeddis.    These  last-mentioned  lands  were  divided  Liber  de 
from  Scraling  by  the  Water  of  Biggar.     Robert  de  f*«j 
Robertistoune  was  witness  to  the  charter  of  Hugh 
Fitz-Robert,  Fitz-Waldeve  of  Biggar. 

The    disagreements    between    the   proprietors   of 
Skirling  and  those  very  ancient  riparian  landowners 
on   the    "  Tueda   flumen "    from    which    they  took 
name — the   Tuedys  of   Drummelzier — began  early. 
They  were  nearly  related  to  each  other,  most  pro- 
bably through  the  Frisels  or  Frasers.     Margaret  de 
Monfode  "  had  an  annual  furth  of  the  lands  of  Hoch  Origines 
Kello  or  Hop  Kelloch,  which  belonged  to  James  of  VoTt, 'p.  "25. 
Tuedi,  and  formerly  to  the   Frasers.     This  tribute 
she  bestowed   upon  the    religious  of  Dunmanayne 
[Dalmeny]  in  Lothian.     In  1331  the  attention  of  the  Robertson's 
Lords  of  the  Council  was  directed  to  the  "  Querela  jT0/28.P  43> 
Domini  de   Skralyne  super  Willelmum   de   Tuedy 
quod  non  feceritei  sectaset  servitias."     This  William  ibid.,  p.  29. 
was  the  son  of  Roger,  son  of  Fynlay  del  Twydyn, 
to  whom    Robert  Bruce  granted  a  few  years  pre- 
viously charter  of  Drummelzier,  on  the  resignation 
of  Sir  William    Fraser.      The  disputes  about  the 


2l8 

heritage  of  Margaret  de  Monfode  went  on  for  many 

years,  and  it  was  not  until  1379  that  it  was  definitely 

Rtg.  Gnat       ordered  that  "  William  Cokburn  de  Scralyne  should 

p"7i4^°No1!'     hold  the  lands  and  baronie  of  Scralyne  and  advow- 

son  of  its  church  and  chapel,  with  the  whole  lands 

of  Heudis,  as  freely  as  Sir  John  de  Monfode,  his 

grandfather,  held  them  in  the  time  of  King  Robert 

of  illustrious    memory."      This   Sir   John  had  also 

grant  from  his  patron,   the  great  monarch,  of  the 

ibui.,n.\2,      lands  of  Trauirnent  [Tranent],  which  had  belonged 

to  Sir  William  de  Ferrariis,  who  was  forfeited  along 

with  the  distinguished  warrior  Alan  la  Suche    [le 

Zouche],    whose   lands    of   Fawside    were    likewise 

bestowed  upon  Sir  John  de   Monfode.     "In   1335 

Origitus          Edward  III.,  in  right  of  the  Lordship  of  the  southern 

voi!T,  p.  194.    counties   of  Scotland,    conceded   to    him    by    King 

Edward  Baliol,  confirmed  the  charter  of  Sir  William 

de  Coucy  to  his  son  William  of  the  manor  of  Scra- 

velyn,    with   all    its    tenements,   and    the    lands    in 

Romanoch  [Romanno],  shire  of  Peebles,  with  many 

other  domains  which  William  de    Coney   inherited 

from    his    mother,    Christian  of   Lyndesay,  wife   of 

Ingleram  de  Gynes."     Mary,  daughter  of  Ingleram 

de  Coucy,  was  the  mother  of  King  Alexander  III., 

the  possession  of  Scraling  by  the  de  Monfodes,  was 

not  interfered  with  by  the  de  Coucys,  notwithstanding 

King  Edward's  gift  thereof. 

Sir  William  Cockburn,  son  and  heir  of  Margaret 
.,  de  Monfode,  had  also  Lethame  and  Barrowfield, 
PP.  405, 406.  County  Haddington,  his  paternal  inheritance.  He 
is  mentioned  as  having  received  remission  of  "  xxx. 
libras,"  which  he  had  been  fined  for  contumaciously 
absenting  himself  from  the  audit,  22d  May  1397. 
In  1407,  "  quhen  the  Erie  of  Mare  of  Scotland  past 
on  condyt  in  England  there  went  with  him — 


2IQ 

"  Schir  Waltere  of  Bekyrtoune,  that  wes  than 

Off  Lufnok,  Lord  in  Louthyane,  Wyntoun's 

Schir  Wylliam  off  Cokburn  and  Schir  William  Edttodb   D 

Off  Cranstone,  tha  twa  wyth  a  name.  Laing,  vol. 

And  in  that  Court  thair  alsua  wes  "'•>  P-  I03- 

Off  Mare  Schir  Alexander  off  Forbes ; 
Thir  foure  knychtis  off  Scotland." 

"  Schir  Wylliam  off  Cokburn,  who  was  off  Scraw- 
lyne,"  married  Christian,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Walter  de  Sancto  Claro,  with  whose  hand  he  got 
the  Barony  of  Cessford,  County  Roxburgh.  In 
1415  he  is  found  appealing  against  the  claim  made 
by  Sir  William  Douglas,  who  had  acquired  the 
dominium  of  Auld  Roxburgh,  formerly  held  by  the 
de  Soulis  family,  and  alleged  that  the  superiority  of 
Cessford  vested  in  him,  instead  of  its  being  held  by 
the  St.  Clairs  or  Sinclairs  from  the  Crown.  The 
matter  was  decided  by  the  Governor  and  Council  in 
William  Cockburn's  favour,  which  was  to  be  ex- 
pected, as  Cessworth  or  Cessford  had  been  granted 
by  Robert  II.  to  Walter  de  Sancto  Claro  8th  March 
1376,  having  been  resigned  for  the  purpose  of 
having  new  investitures  on  the  occasion  of  his  grand-  Reg.  Great 
daughter  Christian's  marriage  by  John  de  Sancto  fa^°l '"' 
Claro,  who  held  the  barony  from  the  Crown  under 
the  grant  from  Robert  Bruce  to  William  de  Sancto  Robertson's 
Claro.  £%* 2I> 

By  the   Lady  Christian  St.    Clair,  William,  first 
Baron  of  Skirling,  had  with  other  issue  a  son — 


ii.   ^le-ean&er  Cockburu   of  Skirling 

<£0S0f0rb,  who  had,  ioth  November  1451, 
sasine  on  behalf  of  his  mother  Christian  Sinclere, 

i  i 


22O 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
Nos.  1273, 
1762. 

Origines 
Parochiales, 
vol.  i.,  pp. 
222,  275. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  1762. 


Ada  Domi- 
norum,  vol.  i., 
p.   161. 


spous  to  the  deceased  William  Cokburn "  of  the 
lands  of  Cessford.  He  had  four  sons,  Adam  and 
William,  successive  proprietors  of  Skirling,  James 
and  Robert  ;  and  three  daughters,  Christian,  Mariota, 
and  Margaret. 

MARIOTA  or  MARION,  married  to  Patrick,  son  of 
Walter  Tuedy  of  Drummelzier,  whose  elder  brother  James 
married  Margaret  Giflert,  connecting  the  family  again  with 
the  Cockburns  of  Clerkington.  Patrick  had  part  of  the  lands 
of  Hop  Kelloch,  or  Hop  Cailzo,  which  property — one  of  the 
earliest  possessions  of  the  Tuedys — was  alienated  with  other 
lands  for  8000  merks. 

MARGARET  married  Thomas  Myddlemast  of  that  Ilk, 
who  purchased  the  lands  of  Grevistoune  or  Griestoun,  with 
"the  auld  mansion,"  from  Robert  Scott  of  Hanyng  in  1476. 

In  1491  William  Cockburn,  son  and  heir  of  Langton, 
brought  an  action  against  this  Robert  Scott  of  the  Hanyng 
"ffor  the  wrangeis  occupation  and  manuring  of  the  forest 
stede  of  the  Hayning  within  the  forest  of  Ettrick,  be  the 
space  of  3  years  bygane."  So  it  would  seem  that  the 
superiority  of  some  of  the  lands  in  Selkirkshire  belonging  to 
his  ancestors  Sir  Robert  and  Nigel  Cockburn  had  been 
inherited  by  him. 

Thomas  Myddlemast  had  charter  of  the  third  part  of  the 
lands  and  barony  of  Glen,  which  Margaret  Ogilvy,  wife  of 
Silvester  Rattray  de  eodem,  and  daughter  and  one  of  the 
co-heiresses  of  Christian  Glen,  resigned  in  1488. 

Thomas  Myddlemast  was  a  character  quite  in  consonance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  Peeblesshire.  In  1491  Richard 
Lawson,  Justice-Clerk,  gave  judgment  against  him  "for 
spulzie  of  James  Lowis,  seeing  that  he  had  been  oft-tymes 
callit  and  not  operit."  His  son  appears  to  have  disposed  of 
his  part  of  the  lands  of  Glen  to  John  Cockburn,  nephew  of 
Gilbert,  called  of  Glen. 

He  had  troubles  with  his  brother-in-law  the  Laird  of  Skir- 
ling, which  will  be  referred  to  presently.  By  Margaret 
Cockburn  he  had  a  son  George,  who  succeeded  in  1499  *° 
his  estates,  amongst  them  these  lands  in  Glen.  George,  son 


221 

and  heir  of  Thomas  Middlemast  of  Middlemast,  was  slain  by 

William  Deckesoune,  John  his  father,  and  John  his  brother,   Pitcairn's 

who  for  a  wonder  were  hanged  therefor  in  1513.     They  had   Cr"".-  Trials, 

not  been  able,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  to  offer  proper  assythe- 

ment.     The  Middlemasts  were  a  family  of  some  importance  : 

"  Our  lovit  chapellan  Sir  Wilzeam  Myddlemast  was  Vicar  of  origims 

Selkirk  in  1425."  Parochiales, 

vol.  i.,  p.  253. 

CHRISTIAN,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Alexander  Cock- 
burn  of  Skirling,  married  James  Quhytelaw  of  that  Ilk,  who 
had  in  1449  remission  with  his  brother-in-law  Robert  Cock- 
burn  for  various  offences  charged  against  them.     The  family 
of  Quhytelaw  (Whitelaw),  with  whom  the  different  branches 
of  that  of  Cockburn  were  connected  by  intermarriages,  was 
one  of  considerable  consequence  in  early  times,  as  is  evident 
from  there  being  several  of  them  of  sufficient  standing  to  be  Nisbet's 
called  upon  to  swear  fealty  to  Edward  I.     Magister  Archi-  Heraldry, 
bald  de  Quhytelaw  was  an  eminent  person  in  the  reign  of  ^  V26      ' 
James  III.    He  was  his  Secretary  and  Archdeacon  Loudonie.   ^^  Great 
In  1484  he  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  sent  to  negotiate  Seal,  vol. 
a  marriage  "  between  James  Duke  of  Rothesay,  eldest  son      °' 
of  the  King  of  Scots,  and  the   Lady  Anne,  niece  of  King 
Richard  of  England,"  and  went  also  as  ambassador  to  Spain. 
In  Glasgow  church,  of  which  he  was  Sub-Dean,  there  was  a   origines 
chaplaincy  at  the  altar  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  founded  by   Parochiales, 
him.     The  Quhytelaw's  estates  were  extensive  in  different  vo '  L>  p'  3' 
counties.     In    1492    James  de    Quhytelaw  de   Melloustanis 
(Mellerstain),  County  Berwick,  had  confirmation  under  the 
Great  Seal  of  the  Charter  of  "  quondam  Johannis  de  Haly- 
burton  Domini  de  Dirletoun,"  dated  at  Dirletoun,  3151  October  Re^  Great 
1452,  of  the  lands  of  Balmablare,  Rogopono,  and  Monyvy,   Seal,  vol.  ii., 
in  the  barony  of  Strathurde,  County  Perth.     This  James  had  No-  96z' 
in  the  following  year  charter  of  the  lands  of  Blasonbrade  on 
the     Blackadder,     County    Berwick,    from    John    Heryng,   jbid.,  No.  497. 
dominus  de  Edmeresdene,  in  same  county. 

Not  much  is  known  about  the   Heryngs  in  after  times, 
but  they  were    once  large   landed    proprietors.      The    later 
Cockburns  of  Skirling  and  Newholme,  as  well  as  the  house 
of  Langton,    could    trace  descent   from   them    through  the   origines 
Somervilles  of  Carnwath,  who  had  also  the  barony  of  Lintoune,   Parochiales, 
County  Roxburgh.      In   1372   a  contract  of  marriage  was  vo ' '"' p' 


222 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii. , 
Nos.  187, 
1995,  1996. 

Siuintons  of 
that  Ilk,  Ap- 
pendix, p.  xl. 


Origines 
Panchiales, 
vol.  i.,  p.  326. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  3565. 


Inquisit. 
Specialei, 
i.,  127. 


Hailes' 
Annals,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  84. 


made  at  Cowthally  Castle  between  Sir  Walter  Somerville  and 
Giles,  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Heryng  of  Edmestoun, 
County  Lanark,  who  is  also  styled  of  Dysert,  County  Fife. 
By  this  heiress  of  the  Heryngs  the  Somervilles  got  Gilmerton, 
Gutters  or  Goodtrees,  and  Drum. 

James  Heryng  of  Cluny  had  from  his  father  in  1490, 
besides  Upsettlington,  County  Berwick,  with  advowson  of  the 
Church  of  that  parish,  Tullibole,  Cardney,  Glasclune,  and 
Lethindy,  in  the  counties  of  Perth  and  Fife.  Sir  John 
Swinton  and  James  Heryng  of  Tullibole  made  an  agreement 
in  1473  about  the  perambulation  of  Upsettlington. 

Patrick  Heryng  was  forfeited  in  1335  by  Edward  III.,  and 
no  dues  could  be  got  from  Edmeresdene,  "  quia  vasta."  The 
Ladye  Marie  Heryng  had  a  safe  conduct,  i2th  July  1389, 
from  Richard  II.  for  600  sheep  and  two  Scotch  shepherds  to 
pasture  at  Cockburnspath,  or  within  five  leagues,  at  her  plea- 
sure, for  three  years. 

It  may  be  that  the  charitable  Petronilla,  daughter  of  Adam 
Heryng,  who  gave  lands  in  her  town  of  Borthwic,  in  her 
territory  of  Borthwic  in  Teviotdale,  before  1 249  to  St.  Mary, 
St.  Benedict,  and  "  the  Gate"  of  Melrose,  for  support  of  the 
poor  arriving  at  the  gate,  which  she  in  her  widowhood  had 
given  to  Robert  Poydras,  remitting  to  the  said  Robert  the 
payment  of  a  pair  of  white  gloves  which  she  had  used  to 
receive  yearly  from  him,  may  have  been  the  mother  of  Petro- 
nilla de  Veteri-Ponte,  who  had  her  husband's  lands  restored 
to  her  in  1296. 

The  Quhytelaws  had  the  estate  of  Dene-Estir,  County 
Peebles,  of  which  David,  son  and  heir  of  James  Quhytelaw, 
and  his  wife,  Christian  Cockburn,  had  new  charter  i4th 
April  1511,  it  being  in  the  King's  hands  in  consequence  of 
the  alienation  of  the  greater  part  thereof  without  consent. 
Patrick,  son  of  Patrick  Quhytelaw  de  eodem,  was  retoured  in 
Dene-Estir,  prope  Blackbaronie,  i4th  July  1551.  His  father 
married  Mariota  Hepburne.  They  had  joint  charter  from 
James  V.  of  the  lands  of  Quhytelaw,  County  Edinburgh,  in 
the  constabulary  of  Haddington,  7th  July  1528,  which  Sir 
Patrick  Hepburne  of  Waughton,  Mariota's  father,  resigned  in 
their  favour  as  superior.  Their  son  Patrick,  above  referred 
to,  had  the  honour  of  knighthood  when  quite  a  young  man. 
He  and  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Langton,  with  thirteen  other 


223 

lairds,  witnessed  the  special  service  of  James  Hepburne,  Earl 

of  Bothwell,  in   1556,  to  his   father  Patrick.     With  consent 

of   his  wife,    "  Domina    Margarete    Hamilton,"    he   sold   to 

William   Arnote,    "  terras    ecclesiasticas    de    Auldhamstokes   gegf  creat 

jacentes  in  lie  manis  de  Cokbrand's-peth  vocat  lie  Hospital,"  Seal,  vol.  iv., 

&c.     The  name  in  this  charter  appears  written  both  as  Cok-  3' 

burnespeth  and  twice  as  above,  Cokbrand's-peth. 

This  William  Arnote  was  postmaster  at  Cockburn's-path. 
He  was  bound  "  to  keip  continuallie  in  his  stabill  or  haive 
in  reddines  thrie  habill  and  sufficient  poist  horssis,  with  furnitur 
convenient  for  the  service  of  His  Majestie's  pacquetis  onlie, 
als  weill  by  nycht  as  by  day,  and  twa  homes  to  sound  als  oft  Rtg-  of  the 
as  thay  meett  the  cumpany,  or  at  leist  thrie  tymes  in  everie  ^v^C"unctl 
myle."  570,  782.  ' 

Sir  Patrick  Quhytelaw  was  a  gallant  and  staunch  adherent 
of  Mary  Stuart.     "On  the  tent  day  of  Sept.   1567,  Patrick  Diurnal  of 
Quhytelaw  of  that  Ilk,  Knycht,  Capitane  of  the  Castell  of  Ouurrents, 
Dunbar,  wes  denuncit  rebell,  and  put  to  the  horn  at  the 
Mercat   Croce  of  Edinburgh,  having   been   chargit  be  ane 
herauld  callit  Adam  M'Culloch  to  delyuer  to  the  said  Regent 
the  said  castell  within  xxiiij  houris,  quha  refuissit  the  samyn." 
After  the  battle  of  Langside,  where  he  fought  for  his  Queen, 
he  was  forfeited. 

His  three  daughters  were  co-heirs  of  their  great-great-grand- 
father, "  John  Fenton  of  that  Ilk,  representative  of  that  mighty  Nisbet's 
Lord  William  Fenton  of  Fenton  who  married  Cecilia,  one  of  „/£?   fy' 
the  co-heiresses  of  the  powerful  chief  Bizzet  of  Lovat." 

The  story  of  these  ladies  Mr.  R.  R.  Stodart  gives  in  his 
notable  work,  and,  as  he  observes,  it  is  a  remarkable  one. 
"  Margaret,  the  eldest,  married  Sir  Alexander  Hamilton  of 
Innerwick,  who  divorced  her  in  1589,  and  she  married  three 
months  afterwards  Sir  John  Ker  of  Jedburgh,  Hirsell,  and 
Liteldene,  who  had  just  divorced  his  former  wife  Julian  Home, 
of  the  Wedderburn  family.  Isobel,  the  second,  married 
Andrew  Ker,  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Lothian,  who  possessed  R.  R.  Stodart's 
Fenton  jure  uxores,  and  was  divorced  in  1596.  She  then 
married  William,  son  of  James  Ker  of  Corbethouse.  In  1603 
she  granted  to  her  son  George  charter  of  her  third  share  of 
the  Whytelaw  lands.  Mary,  the  youngest  daughter,  married 
Hercules  Stewart,  a  natural  brother  of  Francis,  Earl  of  Bothwell, 
from  whom  she  was  divorced,  and  married  immediately  after- 
wards William  Home,  the  King's  stabler,  on  account  of  whose 


224 

alleged  intimacy  her  husband  divorced  her.  Hercules  was 
forfeited,  but  his  daughter  and  heir  Margaret  was  retoured  in 
1633,  and  had  a  ratification  in  1641,  when  Patrick  Whitelaw 
of  that  Ilk  protested  that  this  should  not  prejudice  the  right  he 
had  purchased  and  acquired  to  part  of  the  Whitelaw  estates. 


Exchequer 
Rolls,  Scot- 
land, vol.  x., 
pp.  667-678. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  926. 


Appendix  to 
Historical 
Commis- 
sioners' 
Report,  vol. 
for  1885,  p. 
234- 


Acts  of  the 
Parliament 
of  Scotland, 
vol.  iii.,p.  102. 


in.  2l&am  OLockbnrn  of  Skirling 

lEcSSforfo  succeeded  his  father  Alexander.  He 
was  a  man  of  letters,  Master  in  Arts  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

In  1461  Magister  Adam  de  Cockburn  had  sasine 
of  Scraling  and  Heudis,  County  Lanark,  and  in  the 
following  year  of  Wittoun,  Langrain,  Cousland,  and 
Lethame,  County  Edinburgh.  In  1467  he  witnessed 
the  charter  of  Sir  Robert  de  Creichton,  Dominus  de 
Sanquhare,  to  his  son  Laurence  of  extensive  estates 
in  the  county  of  Elgin,  with  fishings  in  the  Spey. 

On  the  2ist  October  1478  Magister  Adam  de 
Cokburn  de  Scraling  was  one  of  the  arbiters  regard- 
ing the  mill  of  Abercorn  between  Henry  Livingston 
of  Manerstoune,  George  Hamilton  of  the  Tays,  and 
John  Martin  of  the  Meidhope.  The  two  first-named 
individuals  being  charged  by  Martin  "  with  brekin  of 
the  said  mylne,  and  the  wasting  of  the  profifit  of  the 
samyn  heddertillis  sen  the  tyme  of  the  brekin  of  her, 
and  the  awaye  takin  of  thre  pottis,  &c."  He  was 
present  at  the  Council  held  2Oth  February  1471, 
when  King  James  the  Third's  proposal  was  agreed  to 
by  which  "  the  Erledom  of  Orkney  was  united  with 
the  Lordship  of  Scheteland  to  the  Crowne,  nocht  to 
be  gevin  away  in  tyme  to  cum  to  na  personne  nor 
personnis  except  anely  ane  of  the  Kingis  sonis 
gott,"  &c. 

The  name   of   Magister  Adam  de   Cokburn  de 


225 

Scraling  appears  very  frequently  in  the  lists  of  those 
present  at  the  meetings  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council 
during  this  reign.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
William. 


iv.  Sir  TOlliam  Cockburu  of  Skirling 

(He00f0rft  had  in  1470  letters  of  Justice- 
Ayre  within  the  bounds  of  Roxburghshire.  He  N°-  2I99- 
alienated  his  important  estate  of  Cessford  in  that 
county  to  Walter  Ker,  who  got  confirmation  of  his 
charter  thereof  from  James  IV.  i3th  March  1494. 
In  his  youth  he  came  under  the  King's  will,  i8th 
November  1458,  "for  act  and  part  of  the  stowthrief 
of  a  lance  from  a  certane  man  of  the  Erie  of  Ang-us,"  Ktcairn's 

,  .  ,      ,  ,  .  ,  i  •    i         i         •  Crim-  Trials, 

which,  however,  was  his  own  lance  by  right,  having  vol.  i.,  P.  25. 
been  stolen  from  one  of  his  followers  that  same  day. 

There  was  no  great  harm  in  taking  possession  of 
his  own  lance  when  he  saw  it,  but  no  doubt  it  had 
been  accompanied  by  strong  measures  very  hurtful  to 
"  the  certane  man."  The  Knight  of  Scraling  was 
given  to  such  proceedings.  On  the  same  day  he 
and  his  brother  James,  and  John  Pattinson  in  Kin- 
gildurris,  produced  to  the  Court  remission  for  being 
art  and  part  in  "the  slaughter  of  Walter,  son  of  ^zv/.,p.  26. 
John  Tuedy  of  Drava,  in  Peblis,  and  for  art  and  part 
in  the  stowthrief  of  a  sword  and  shield  from  the  said 
Walter  at  the  same  time."  It  was  of  little  conse- 
quence their  taking  his  arms  when  they  had  slain 
the  owner. 

But  the  said  William  and  James  were  guilty  of  a 
still  more  heinous  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  at 
that  era,  having  with  forethought  committed  an 
assault  upon  Andrew  Tuedy,  grievously  wounding 


226 


Pitcairn's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  p.  26. 


Ruthirfurds 
of  that  Ilk, 
Appendix, 
p.  Ixxix. 


Origints 
Parochiales, 
voL  i.,  p.  184, 


the  said  Andrew  in  the  street  of  Edinburgh  during 
the  sitting  of  tJte  Parliament.    Violent  and  audacious 
as  their  method  of  settling  a  family  quarrel  was,  it 
was  comfortably  arranged  by  Sir  William  agreeing 
to  give  security  to  satisfy  the  Tuedys,  with  whom 
they  as  well  as  the  Veitches  of  Dawick  had  at  this 
time  a  bitter  "  deidly  feid  ; "  that  between  the  Tuedys 
and  Veitches  being  carried  on  with  an  amount  of 
violence   and   ferocity  not   exceeded    in    the    tribal 
quarrels  between  the   Maxwells  and  Johnstons,   or 
the    Scots   and    the    Kers,    or   the    latter  with   the 
Ruthirfurds.     On  the  same  day  in    1458,   Edward, 
younger  brother  of  William  Cockburn  of  Hender- 
land,  produced  remission   for  the  killing  of  Roger 
Tuedy  in  company  with  his  brother  the  laird,  who 
also  arranged  the  affair   by  giving  his  security  to 
satisfy  the  Tuedys.     Most  likely,  as  notwithstanding 
all  their  sanguinary  feuds  there  were  constant  inter- 
marriages between  the  families  of  these  old  Peebles- 
shire  lairds,  the  inconvenientis  were  settled  on  this 
occasion  as  the  Ruthirfurds  and  Kers  did  theirs  in 
1560,  by  marrying   the   son   of  the   slayer  to  the 
daughter  of  the  slain,  and  vice  versa.     There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Tuedys  had  given  the  laird  of  Skir- 
ling cause  of  complaint;   for  in    1478  "the  Lords, 
with   avyse   of    Parliament,    ordained    that   Walter 
Tuedy  of  Drummelzier  [who  was  his  near  relative] 
should  restore  a  cup  of  silver,  double  gilt,  having  a 
foot   or    pedestal   and    solid    lid   or    cover,    which 
Magister  Adam  of  Skraling  had  laid  in  pledge  with 
him  for  twenty  marks.     It  is  to  be  presumed  that 
the  Knight  of  Skirling  had  paid  his  debt,  and  that 
the  Baron  of  Drummelzier  continued  to  grace  his 
board  with  the  cup,  so  prized  a  possession  that  its 


227 


recovery  was  a  matter  of  such  consequence  as  to  be 
brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Parliament.  The 
Twedys  were  apt  to  be  high-handed  in  their  pro-  Pennecuik's 
ceedings.  Dr.  Pennecuik  calls  the  old  "  Lords  of 
Neidpath  and  Thane's  Castle  of  Drummelzier,"  the 
"  powerful  and  domineering  Tuedys  or  Tweedies," 
when  he  wrote  in  1700.  The  family,  he  stated, 
"  are  now  quite  extinct."  A  descendant  of  William 
or  Laurence  Tweedy,  who  were  both  in  Oliver 
Castle  in  1450,  restored  however  the  family  name  to 
position  in  Peeblesshire,  and  his  successors,  as  men- 
tioned in  the  memoir  of  the  House  of  Henderland, 
still  hold  Oliver,  Rachan,  and  other  properties  in 
the  county. 

In  1493  Sir  William  Cockburn  had  to  proceed 
against  Thomas  Middlemast  of  Grevistoune,  "upon 
whom  he  had  bestowed  his  sister's  hand,"  for  resti- 
tution of  twenty-three  score  of  sheep.  It  was 
evidently  the  rule  in  Upper  Tweeddale  that  those 
should  take  who  have  the  power,  and  those  should 
keep  who  can  ;  but  perhaps  Thomas  was  only  taking 
this  method  of  obtaining  for  himself  value  for  the 
"  four  skore  marks  "  which  he  complained  to  the  Ada 
Lords  in  Council  was  due  to  him  under  his  marriage  "^T'pi 
contract  with  Margaret  Cockburn,  which  his  appli-  285-3°3- 
cation  had  failed  to  secure  payment  of.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  the  Lord  of  Skirling,  so  far  as  there 
are  only  the  complaints  made  against  him  to  judge 
by,  was  very  peculiar  in  his  business  transactions, 
and  was  guilty  of  an  appropriation  of  goods  and 
chattels  apparently  very  unbecoming  in  a  belted 
knight.  The  Lords  of  the  Council  are  found  order- 
ing him  to  restore  the  following  peculiar  effects, 
which,  escheated  to  the  King,  had  been  bestowed 

K  I 


228 


Origines  Pa 
chiales,  vol. 
p.  184. 


Rymer's 
Fadora,  vol. 
xiv.,  p.  27. 


De  Kebtis 
Gtstis  Scot- 
orumjoh. 
Leslao  Epis- 
copo  Rossensi, 
Edit,  imprim. 
Rome, 
MLXXXVIII. 


by  His  Majesty  upon  Matthew  Campbell,  but  had 
been  taken  from  him  by  Sir  William,  "  to  wit,  three 
verdour  beds  and  an  arras  bed,  three  pairs  of  sheets, 
a  board  [table]  cloth  of  dornwick  [diaper],  six  smocks 
of  the  same,  a  board  cloth  of  linen,  a  feather  bed 
with  a  bolster,  four  cods  [pillows],  two  verdour  beds, 
a  pair  of  fustian  blankets,  a  ruff  and  curtain,  two 
pairs  of  sheets,  a  pair  of  blankets,  smal  qukyte,  a 
feather  bed  and  two  saddles  with  their  repalingas, 
estimated  to  be  worth  thirty-five  pounds." 

By  his  wife  Marion  or  Mariota,  one  of  the  nume- 
rous daughters  of  "  Sir  Robert  Lord  Creichtoune  of 
ye  Sanchquare,"  he  had  three  sons  and  several 
daughters.  William,  the  eldest,  succeeded  ;  of  James, 
the  second,  little  mention  is  found,  excepting  that 
unfavourable  one  above  noticed.  Robert,  his  third 
son,  was  a  very  different  character,  and  did  great  credit 
to  his  name  and  family.  He  was  in  the  Church,  and 
being  a  man  of  great  ability  rose  to  eminence.  He 
was  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  and  for  some  time  also  of 
Ross.  In  consequence  of  his  gift  of  eloquence,  his 
prudence,  and  wisdom,  he  was  frequently  entrusted 
with  the  conduct  of  State  affairs.  In  1524  he  was 
one  of  the  three  ambassadors  sent  to  the  Court  of 
Henry  VIII.  "to  treat  of  a  marriage  between  their 
King  James,  and  Mary,  King  Henry's  daughter,  and 
also  of  a  peace  between  the  two  kingdoms,  and  made 
a  very  great  impression  by  his  eloquence."  John 
Lesley,  who  was  also  Bishop  of  Ross,  says,  in  his 
history  of  the  times,  "  dictus  Episcopus  Dunkel- 
densis  latinam  orationem  exquisitissimo  eloquentiae 
instructu  ornatam,"  &c.,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  at  the  English 
Court,  his  society  was  much  sought  by  the  most 


229 

prominent  men  there.     He  attested  the  declaration 
of  the  truce   agreed  to  by  the   Duke  of   Norfolk, 

„     .  .  °   .  i      r  ,  .  Scottish  Seals, 

affixing  thereto  his  seal  of  arms  bearing  three  cocks,    vol.  a.,  pp.  37, 

183. 


Seal  of  Robert  Cockburn,  "  dei  gratia  Epis- 
copus  Rossen.,"  appended  loth  August  1515 
to  his  charter  of  the  lands  of  Kirkton,  in 
Kilmorock,  to  Thomas  Fraser,  Lord  Lovat. 

Robert  Cockburn  was  the  eighteenth  Bishop  of 
Ross.  Henry  de  Cokburn  was  the  thirteenth 
Bishop  of  that  Diocese.  He  was  probably  one  of 
the  family  of  Dalginche  or  Torry. 

Christian,  one  of  Sir  William's  daughters,  married 
Alexander  Creichton  of  Newhall,  of  whom  further 
mention  will  presently  be  made,  in  consequence  of 
the  disagreeable  experiences  resulting  from  his  match 
with  the  sister  of  the  Laird  of  Skirling. 

Marion,  another  daughter,  married  Hew  Douglas 
of  Borg,  in  Galloway.     They  had  sasine  in  conjunct  R'g-  Grtat... 
fee  of  the  lands  of  Littill   Fawside,  County  Edin-  NO. '1846. 
burgh,  purchased  "  pro  magnis  summis  "  from  Robert, 
Abbot  of  the  Monastery  of  the  Holy  Cross,  of  which 


230 

they  had  confirmation  charter  from  James  V.  226. 
October  1538. 

Sir  William  was  still  living  in  1511,  when  James 
IV.  gave  charter  of  the  lands  of  Baldene,  which 
"  familiaris  suus  Willelmus  Cokburn  filius  et  heres 
Willelmi  Cokburn  de  Scraling  militis "  had  made 
arrangements  regarding  to  accommodate  his  impe- 
cunious relative,  Robert  Creichton,  Dominus  de 
Sanquhare. 


v.  Sir  roiliam  Cockburn  of  Skirling 

married  Margaret  Cokburn,  his  kinswoman,  daughter 
of  Sir  William,  ninth  Baron  of  Langton.  She  was 
one  of  the  ladies  of  the  Court  of  Queen  Margaret, 
eldest  daughter  of  Henry  VII.,  wife  of  James  IV. 
On  the  gth  August  1511  that  monarch  gave  a  charter 
Keg.  Gnat  "  Willelmo  filio  hercdi  Willelmi  Cokburn  de  Scraling 

Seal,  vol.  ii.,  .........  , 

No.  3611.  militis  et  ejus  heredibus  pro  bono  servitio,  necnon  in 
contentionem  pro  certa  summa  per  regem  eidem 
Willelmo  juniori  nomine  dotis  promissa  causa  matri- 
monii  inter  ipsum  et  Margaretam  Cokburn  regine 
servitricem  completi."  It  was  much  easier  for  His 
Majesty  to  give  the  lady's  dot  in  lands  than  in  coin 
of  the  realm,  so  scarce  in  those  days.  The  bride- 
groom would  no  doubt  have  preferred  Margaret's 
marriage  gift  being  in  cash,  as  he  had  evidently  quite 
as  great  difficulty  in  paying  his  debts  as  his  royal 
master. 

Catherine  Lauder,  wife  of  John  Swinton  of  Swin- 

Swintonsof  ton,  died  in  1515,  and  left  in  her  will  "the  sum  of 
.£25  to  her  daughter  Margaret,  with  that  she  should 
get  from  William  Cockburn  of  Scraling  for  a  horse 
and  ring  he  had  from  her."  It  may  be  this  ring  was 


231 


got  by  him  four  years  before  to  place  on  the  finger 
of  his  betrothed,  and  he  had  been  unable  to  pay  the 
Lady  of  Swinton  for  it,  having  exhausted  his  cash 
at  the  time  perhaps  by  paying  250  merks  to  the  Keg.  Great 
King,  due  by  his  kinsman,  Robert  Lord  Crichton  of 
Sanquhare,  for  which  he  received  the  lands  of  Bal- 
dene  from  His  Majesty  4th  March  1511,  which  the 
Lord  Crichton  might  redeem  in  seven  years. 

By  Margaret  Cockburn,  who  died  soon  after  her 
child's  birth,  he  had  a  daughter  Margaret,  married 
as  second  wife  to  her  cousin-german,  Sir  James 
Cockburn  of  Langton. 

In  1536  he  came  under  the  King's  will  for 
various  acts  of  oppression  done  to  his  brother-in- 
law,  Alexander  Crichton  of  Newhall,  such  as  taking 
by  force  at  night  a  box  of  deeds  out  of  the  said 
Alexander's  agent's  hands  in  Edinburgh  in  1528, 
violent  occupation  of  his  lands  of  Kirkrighill  in 
1533,  overthrowing  a  faill-dyke  on  the  said  lands, 
keeping  seven  score  of  cattle  and  sixty  horses  and 
mares  in  the  meadow  of  said  lands  in  1535,  and 
breaking  three  letters  of  protection  granted  by  the 
King  to  the  said  Alexander.  His  mode  of  proceed- 
ing was  a  rough  one-  doubtless,  but  in  accordance 
with  the  usages  of  the  time,  when,  as  Mr.  Pitcairn 
says,  "the  fact  of  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw, 
hereditary  sheriff,  and  the  highest  legal  functionary 
in  his  part  of  the  country,  being  charged  with  being 
art  and  part  in  the  stowthrief  of  four  cows  from 
Thomas  Cunningham  of  Carrik,  presents  a  melan- 
choly picture  of  the  state  of  society."  William 
Cockburn  received,  25th  day  of  April  1536,  "gift  of 
his  own  escheat  upon  payment  of  1000  merks, 
having  been  convicted  at  the  Sheriff  Court  of  Edin- 


voiT, 


2T.2 


Reg.  of  the 
Privy  Seal, 
vol.  ix.,  fol. 
168. 


burgh  of  the  above-mentioned  '  oppressioune '  done 
by  him  and  his  servants  to  William  Creichton  of 
Newhall;"  and  on  the  same  day  he  received  remis- 
sion "  for  the  crimes  imputed  to  him,  amongst  others 
for  meinteyning  and  assisting  umquhile  David  Hume 
of  Wedderburn,  his  brothers  and  complices  being 
convict  of  treason  and  ye  Kingis  rebell."  There  are 
several  things  in  the  life  of  Sir  William  that  are  un- 
explained. We  do  not  know  the  circumstance 
which  led  to  the  King's  giving  the  following  per- 
mission to  absent  himself  from  inconvenient  public 
duties: — "We,  understanding  that  our  lovit  William 
Cockburn  of  Scraling  is  under  deidlie  feid  with  our 
bordouris  sua  that  he  may  nocht  gudlie  come  and 
remayne  from  our  bordouris  without  danger  of  his 
life  thairfor,  .  .  .  grantis  and  gevis  license  to 
him  to  remayne  and  byde  at  hame  from  all  oistis, 
vadys,  gaderyngis,  assemblies,  wapenschawings, 
weris,  &c.,  provyding  that  he  find  and  furnis  his 
bruther  and  household  sufficiently  to  do  ws  and  oure 
lieutenant  service  at  all  our  said  oistis,  &c.  Sub- 
scrivit  with  our  hand  and  under  our  priuie  sele  at 
Edinburg  n  February  1532."  Nor  is  the  cause 
apparent  of  his  having  fallen  under  his  sovereign's 
displeasure  to  such  an  extent  as  to  cause  him  to 
write  a  letter  with  his  own  hand  in  the  following 
year  to  this  effect : — "  Rex. — Traist  counsallouris  we 
grete  you  weill,  and  has  resauit  zour  writingis  anent 
ye  laird  of  Scraling,  and  thinkis  your  avise  and 
counsel  best,  anent  publishing  of  dome  gevin  againis 
Fitcaim's  him.  Quhair  ze  mentione  of  ane  minut  send.  We 

Cnm.  Trials,     ,  _,        . 

vol.  L,  p.  175.  nave  sene  nane.  1  herfor  we  pray  zou  that  ze  tak 
that  travel  to  pass  to  him,  and  declair  quhow  it 
standis,  sua  that  his  lyf  and  guddis  are  in  oure 


233 

handis.  Gif  he  cummis  in  will  we  will  be  gracious 
to  him,  ffailzeand  thairof  we  sail  caus  justice  to  be 
kepit :  and  thairafter  that  ze  write  to  vs  his  anseir 
as  ze  will  do  vs  singular  plesour.  Gevin  at  Craw- 
fordjone  ye  xxix.  day  of  Marche  and  of  our  reigne 
xxi.  zeir.  To  our  traist  Consalaris,  ower  Controllar, 
and  Thome  Scot,  Justice-Clerk." 

Whatever  the  cause  was,  whether  he  had  offended 
the  implacable  Justice-Clerk,  who  made  the  worst  of 
the  case  against  him,  we  do  not  know,  but  he 
managed  to  appease  the  King's  anger,  and  was 
restored  to  the  favour  he  had  enjoyed  in  the  days 
when  the  young  monarch  made  merry  at  Cowthally. 
"  James  the  Fyfth,"  says  Lord  Somerville,  "  from  the 
eighteen  year  of  his  age  to  the  thretty-two,  fre- 
quented noe  nobleman's  house  soe  much  as  Cow- 
thally. It  is  true  there  was  a  because.  The  castle  of 
Crawfuird  was  not  far  off,"  &c.  ..."  Amongst 
all  the  ladyes  that  was  there,  he  fancyed  none  soe 
much  as  Katherine  Carmichaell,  the  Captane  of 
Crawfuird's  daughter,  a  young  ladie  much  about  six- 
teinth  years  of  age,  admired  for  her  beautie,  hand- 
someness  of  persone,  and  vivacity  of  spirit."  Of  the  n'373- 
fair  Katherine  more  presently.  As  Sir  William  Cock- 
burn  married  secondly  Marion,  the  Lord  Somerville's 
daughter,  he  must  have  been  well  known  to,  if  not 
on  intimate  terms  with  the  King,  meeting  him  at 
those  portentous  suppers,  when  "  the  fare  was  beyond 
all  that  the  young  lady  of  the  mansion  had  seen, 
wholl  sheep  and  legges  of  cowes  being  served  up  in  Ibid->  P-  339- 
platers,  or  rather  in  troches  of  ane  awell  [oval]  forme 
made  out  of  the  trunks  of  ...  black  and  firme  in 
the  timber,  as  if  they  had  been  ibony  or  brizell." 

Marion  Somerville,  whose  sister  Marjorie  married 


234 

Twedy  of  Drummelzier,  would  be  told  by  her  mother 
stories  of  her  adventures  on  the  Loch  of  Cowthally 
when  she  came  home  as  a  bride,  for  "the  Lady 
Somervill  was  timorous  as  never  being  upon  the 
waiter  before  to  goe  enter  the  boat,  but  the  confidence 
of  the  Laydes  Carmichaell  and  Westerhall  made  her 
venture  with  the  rest ;  the  Ladyes  Cambusnethan 
and  Carmichaell  sometymes  applying  the  oares  to 
make  known  their  skill  and  give  confidence  to  the 
Ladye  Somervill." 

The  profuse  but  primitive  hospitality  of  Cowthally 

would  indeed  have  been  familiar  to  Marion  herself 

and  her  sisters,  for  it  was  long  proverbial.     James 

Sir  Waiter       VI.    found   the   speates   and  raxes  going  there  as 

Scott's  Tales  .       .       ,° 

of  a  Grand-      merrily  as  they  were  wont  to  do  in  his  great  great- 
father^ vol.  ii.,  grandfather  james  the  Third's  time,  and  named  his 

hospitable  entertainer's  castle  Cow-Daily.  "  In  those 
days  it  was  still  in  the  abundance  of  game  and  wylde 
foull  that  they  gloried  most ;  the  fashione  of  kick- 
shawes  and  deserts  was  not  much  knowne  nor  served 
upon  great  men's  tables  before  Queen  Marie's  time." 
The  Baron  of  Skirling  no  doubt  was  gallantly  attired 
when  he  was  a  guest  at  Cowthally,  as  apparently  he 
ActaDomi-  was  not  neglectful  of  appearances.  In  1540  he  pre- 

norum  Concilii  .  ...  i          T  i  r      i          /-•  -i 

etsessionis,  sented  a  supplication  to  the  Lords  ot  the  Council 
xw.,  fois.  103,  regarcj;ng  a  violent  raid  that  had  been  made  upon 
his  wardrobe  by  one  Andrew  Blackstok,  who,  alleging 
that  he  had  obtained  twenty  merks  upon  the  said 
William  Cockburn  by  a  sentence  of  the  official  at 
St.  Andrews,  "  hes  gert  tak  fra  the  said  William  ane 
gown  of  Paris  blak,  bigareit  with  welvoit,  and  lynit 
with  fanzeis."  Probably  Andrew  had  made  the 
gown  of  Paris  blak,  and  had  not  been  able  to  get 
payment  of  his  bill.  Sir  William  had  evidently 


235 

threatened  him  with  strong  measures  for  his  attempt 
to  secure  himself  in  this  manner  ;  for  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  year  Laurence  Crawfurd  of 
Kilbirnie  became  security  "  for  William  Cokburn  of 
Skirling  that  Mr  Andro  Blakstok  shall  be  harmless 
and  skaithless  of  him  and  all  that  he  may  latt."  By 
Marion  Somerville  Sir  William  had  William,  James 
(eventual  heir),  Hew,  John,  Marion,  Barbara,  and 
Isobel. 

II.  HEW  COCKBURN,  Sir  William  and  Marion's  third 
son,  had  the  church  lands  of  Kirkurd  and  others  on  the 
Water  of  Urde,  which  he  held  first  from  "  Mr  David,  vicar 
of  Kirkurd,"  who  made  an  agreement  with  him  for  "the  tak 
and  assedation  thereof,  with  the  fruitis  and  incrementis  of  his 
said  glebe  and  kirklands  of  Kirkurd  in  August  1561."  On 
iyth  February  1576  was  dated  the  confirmation  under  the 
Great  Seal  of  James  VI.  of  the  charter  "  Ricardi  Weir  vicarii 
ecclesie  parochialis  de  Kirkurde  qua  pro  pecuniarum  summis 
persolutis  ad  feudifirmam  demisit  Jacobo  Douglas  filio  naturali 
Jacobi  comitis  de  Mortoun  Dom.  de  Dalkeith  regentis  Scotia?,  fag-  Great 
terras  suas  ecclesiasticas  de  Kirkurde  com  domibus,  edificiis, 
pomeriis,  pratis,  &c.  per  se  et  Hugonem  Cokburne  fratrem 
Jacobi  Cokburne  de  Scraling  militis,  et  ejus  sub  subtenentes  Reg.  of  Deeds, 

occupatas."    In  1575  Sir  James  had  a  disposition  in  his  favour  Sf°a-  °fficf< 
...  J/J        J  T  vol.  15,  fols. 

from   his  brother-german  Hew  of  a   rent-charge  out  of  the  84,  85. 

lands  of  Scraling,  and  gave  Hew  discharge  of  a  similar  burden 
upon  his  lands  of  Lethame,  County  Haddington.     On  6th 
February  1588  there  was  a  deed  executed  by  which  James  Kid.,  vol.  32, 
Douglas  of  Spot,  above  named,  as  over-lord,  disponed  to  Hew  fol-  263- 
Cokburn  the  church  lands   of  Kirkurde.     Hew   is   therein 
styled  of   Slipperfield.      "  There   is   a   burn  called   in    old 
charters  Polintarff  [the  West  Water],  which  riseth  from  the  Pennecuik's 
Black    Mountain    Craigingar.      Upon  this  burn   stand    the  p  ,'55. 
three  Slipperfield s,  namely,  Ewe  Third,  Middle  Third,  and 
Loch  Third.     These  belonged  of  old  to  Pennecuik  of  Penni- 
cuik."     Confirmation  was  given  i6th  March  1574  under  the 
Great  Seal  of  James  VI.  of  the  charter  of  Robert,  Commen- 
dator  of  the  Monastery  of  the  Holy  Cross,  to  John  Pennycuk  Reg-  Gr">*.. 
de  eodem  in  libero  tenemento  necnon  Joanni  Pennycuk  ejus  -^°  'ZT&O  "' ' 
L  I 


236 


Rymer's 
fan/era, 
torn,  ii.,  1015. 


filio  et  heredi  apparent!  et  Euphamie  Bruce  ejus  sponse.  &c. 
terras  nuncupatas  Yowthride  [per  Margaretam  Wauchop  relic- 
tarn  Joannis  Pennycuk  de  eodem  occupat.]  in  regalitate  et 
baronia  de  Brochton  vie  Peblis. 

The  Cockburns  were  fortunate  in  getting  lands  with  their 
brides  on  very  many  occasions,  and  very  probably  Slipperfield 
was  acquired  by  Hew  in  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  this  old 
family  of  Pennecuik.  Hugo  de  Penicok  made  his  submission 
to  King  Edward  in  1306  along  with  William  de  Ramesye 
and  Piers  de  Pontkyn.  In  1800  Sir  Thomas  Gibson  Carmi- 
chael,  Baronet,  possessed  it  with  the  other  estates  of  the 
House  of  Skirling. 


Reg.  of  Dads, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  xliv., 
fol.  119. 


Reg.  of  the 
Privy  Council, 
vol.  i. ,  p.  665. 

Acta  Domi- 
norum  Concilii 
et  Sessionis, 
vol.  xxv.,  fol. 
127. 

Acts  of  Scot. 

Parl. ,  vol.  iii., 

p.  6. 

Reg.  of  Deeds, 

Scott.  Office, 

vol.  ii.,  fol. 

463- 

Ibid.,  vol.  vi., 
foL  467. 


III.  JOHN  COCKBURN,  fourth  son  of  Sir  William  and 
Marion  Somerville,  is  called  "personne  of  Scraling,"  when 
he  made  an  agreement  with  Adam,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  Com- 
mendator  of  Holyroodhous,  for  a  lease  of  Castlehill  for  five 
years.  In  1567  he  is  styled  Rector  of  Dolphinstoune.  He 
was  bound  to  pay  certain  duties  out  of  the  latter  lands,  which 
Michael  Naesmyth  of  Posso  gave  security  "  for  being  forth- 
coming when  called  upon,  to  the  Regent's  grace." 

On  loth  May  1558,  as  "  assigney  of  his  mother  Marioune 
Sommervill,  he  discharged  with  his  brothers,  Sir  James  of 
Scraling  and  Hew  of  Kirkurde,  an  action  raised  in  1548 
before  the  Lords  against  John  Lord  Borthvvick  for  spoliation 
of  his  said  mother,  in  violently  taking  sheep  and  oxen  from 
her  lands  of  Lethame,  in  the  county  of  Haddington." 

He  was  afterwards  designated  of  Newholme  in  the  barony 
of  Skirling.  He  married  his  kinswoman  Katherine,  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Somerville  of  Cambusnethan. 

Their  marriage  -  contract  was  signed  24th  October  1563. 
It  was  agreed  thereby  "  between  James  Cockburn  of  Scraling 
and  John  Cockburn,  his  brother-german,  on  the  one  part,  and 
John  Sommerweill  of  Cambusnethan  for  himself,  and  taking 
burden  upon  himself  for  Katherine,  his  daughter,  on  the  other 
part,  that  the  said  John  Cockburn  binds  himself  to  marry  the 
said  Katherine  Sommerweill,  and  the  foresaid  James  Cock- 
burn  obliges  himself  to  infeft  them  both  in  conjunct  fee  in 
the  ten  pound  land  of  old  extent  of  Newholme,  in  the  barony 
of  Scraling  and  shire  of  Peebles."  George  Cockburn  of 
Henderland  witnessed  the  deed. 


237 

Katharine  Somerville's  mother  [whose  sister  Margaret  was 
wife  of  John  Lindsay  of  Cockburn]  was  "  the  fair  Katherine 
Carmichaell "  regarding  whose  relations  with  James  V., 
when  she  was  only  sixteen  years  or  very  little  more,  "  the 
malitious  tongues "  of  the  gossips  of  the  time  made,  as 
Lord  Somerville  says,  the  very  worst  they  could.  "She 
married  young  Cambusnethan,  an  eminent  Barrone,  honor- 
ably descended,  being  a  grandson  of  the  House  of  Mon- 
trose,  and  the  second  great  branch  of  the  House  of  Cow- 
thally.  She  and  young  Cambusnethan  were  most  happy  in  Memorit  of 
their  marriage.  Never  two  lived  more  contentedly  than  they  the  Somer- 
did,  and  there  was  all  the  reason  in  the  world  for  it.  Laying  p.  jgg. 
away  her  beauty,  she  in  her  prime,  in  the  twentyeth  and 
second  year  of  her  age,  her  virtue  and  her  modesty  were  so 
conspicuous,  she  became  a  patterne  to  all  her  neighbour 
ladyes  for  thrift  and  good  housewife." 

John  Cockburn  had   by   his  wife,  Katherine  Somerville, 
several  children.     The  eldest  son  James  succeeded  to  New- 
holme.     On  sth  February  1592  a  deed  was  executed  whereby  ?&'&£?*** 
.  .%  ?%.  ,      Scott.  Office, 

he,  the  said  James,  son  and  heir  to  the  deceased  John  Cock-  Vol.  44,  fol. 

burn  of  Newholme,  who  was  brother-german  to  the  deceased  1'9- 
James  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  resigned  in  favour  of  William 
Cockburn  of  Skirling  the  ten  pound  land  of  old  extent  of 
Newholme,  in  the  barony  of  Skirling,  sold  by  the  deceased 
James  to  the  deceased  John,  his  brother,  and  Katherine 
Somervel,  his  spous." 

So  the  disputes  between  their  respective  fathers  regarding 
this  property,  which  had  been  referred  in  1574  to  John  Hamil- 
ton of  Stanehous  as  arbiter,  had  been  settled  by  John  becoming  /*'<'•»  vo1-  "4. 

,  •  ,    ,  •     fol.  402. 

the   proprietor   by   purchase.     By  an   arrangement  with  his 

cousin,  Sir  William  of  Skirling,  who  had  been  knighted  before 
1590,  he  occupied  Lethame  after  his  mother's  death.  In 
1592  he  had  lodged  1700  merks  in  the  hands  of  William 
Scott,  "  director  of  the  Chancellarie,"  for  the  redemption  of 
the  lands  of  Denholme  [?  Newholme] ;  but  on  the  same  day 
that  he  conveyed  Newholme  to  Sir  William,  he  gave  discharge 
for  this  sum,  and,  consequent  upon  his  renouncing  this  right, 
the  agreement  regarding  Lethame  was  probably  made.  He 
had  a  son  John  who  was  in  Lethame.  His  daughter  Isobell 
was  the  wife  of  James  Cockburn  of  Selburnrigg.  According 
to  family  tradition  she  inherited  the  beauty  and  attractions  of 


Partic.  Ktg. 
of  Sasines, 
County  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  7, 
fol.  430. 

Ibid.,  vol.  9, 
fol.  421. 


Acts  and 
Decreets,  vol. 
20. 


R.R.Stodart's 
Scottish  Arms, 
vol.  ii.,  pp.  18, 
79- 


Reg.  Privy 
Seal,  vol.  v., 
fol.  35- 


her  ancestress,  the  fair  Katherine  Carmichael.  Alexander 
Cockburn  in  Lethame  had  in  1659  sasine  of  the  lands  and 
maynes  of  Whytelaw  from  Richard  Whytelaw  of  that  Ilk,  with 
consent  of  his  wife,  Margaret  Purves.  He  also  had  a  charter 
under  the  Great  Seal  in  1666  to  himself  and  his  son  Patrick 
of  Stonypeth,  Harkumwood,  and  Whittinghame.  Letham  had 
passed  in  fee  to  the  Cockburns  of  Clerkington  in  consequence 
of  the  marriage  probably  of  Patrick  of  Clerkington  with 
Marion,  John  of  Newholme's  sister.  In  1670  it  was  settled 
upon  Jeane,  daughter  of  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  who  married 
Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkington. 

IV.  MARION,   eldest  daughter   of  Sir  William  by  his 
wife,  Marion  Somerville,  married  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerk- 
ington. 

V.  BARBARA   married  John,  son   of  George   Hay  of 
Mynzeane,  County  Peebles.     Their  names  appear  in  an  action 
before  the  Court  of  Session  in  1539,  along  with  that  of  her 
brother  Sir  James. 

VI.  ISOBEL  married  David  Kincaid  of  the  Coittis,  who 
was  Governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle  in  1542.     The  chief  seat 
of  this   family   was   Kincaid,    Stirlingshire.     A   descendant, 
Alexander  Kincaid,  was  Provost  of  Edinburgh  in  1776.     He 
was  printer  and  stationer  to  the  King  for  Scotland.      His 
wife,  Willelmina  Carolina,  was  the  daughter  of  Lord  Charles 
Ker,  son  of  the  first  Marquis  of  Lothian.      Their  son,  Alex- 
ander Kincaid,  succeeded  his  father  as  printer  and  stationer 
to  His  Majesty. 

Sir  William  had  Letters  of  Justiciary  on  2ist 
January  1515  for  Peeblesshire,  as  his  father,  pro- 
prietor of  Cessford  Barony,  had  in  1470  for  Rox- 
burghshire. He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son, 
William.  « 


Reg.  Privy 
Seal,  lib.  xx., 
fol.  7. 


vi.  Sir  IBUliam  Cockburn  of  Skirling 

did  not  come  immediately   into  possession    of  the 
estates  upon  his  father's  death.     "The  gift  of  the 


239 

ward  of  the  estates  of  the  late  William  Cockburn 
until  the  entry  of  the  heir,  with  the  marriage  of  the 
latter,   was  given   to  Jane    Hamilton,   sister  of  the 
Lord  Governor."     After  he  did  enter  upon  posses- 
sion   thereof,    he    was    soon    disturbed.       On    i7th 
November  1  547  "  the   Bishop  of  Dunkeld  had  gift 
of  the    escheat  of  William    Cockburn  of  Scraling,  Reg.  Privy 
denounced  a  rebel,  and  put  to  the  horn  for  not  pre-  ibT^!  ' 
senting  William  Lauder  of  Haltoun  before  the  Lords 
of  the  Council  on  loth  November  instant." 

George  Crichton  was   Bishop  of  Dunkeld  about 
this  time  —  "  a  man  nobly  disposed  and  a  great  house-  Archbishop 
keeper,  but  in  matters  of  his  calling  not  very  skilled  ; 


he  thanked  God  that  he   knew  neither  the  Old  or  History  of  the 
New  Testaments,  and    yet    had   prospered  all  his  Scotland, 
days."     The  escheat  of  William  Cockburn  for  ap- 
parently small  cause  was  perhaps   easily  got  over, 
and  if  George  Crichton   or   his    nephew   who  suc- 
ceeded him  was  the  Bishop  then,  being  his  kinsman, 
it  may  be  concluded  that  he  did  not  suffer  materially 
from  this  forfeiture.     In  1550  he  had  been  knighted,  Reg.  Great 
and  was  in  possession  of  the  estates  when  he  attested  ^'^'  1V'' 
at  Edinburgh,  on  nth  August  of  that  year,  the  con- 
firmation under  the  Great  Seal  of  Queen  Mary  of  a 
charter  from  Symon  Preston  de  eodem.      He  died 
in    the    end    of   the   following    year.     The    will    of 
William  Cokburn,  Knight  and  Lord  of  Scraling,  was 
made  at  Edinburgh   i;th  December  1551.      It  was 
registered  in  the  Commissariot  of  Glasgow,  probably  Glasgow 
in  consequence  of  a  large  portion  of  the  estates  being 
in  Lanarkshire. 

He  left  "  his  soul  to  God,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and 
all  the  Saints  ;  his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  aisle  of 
St.  Gabriel  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Giles  of 


240 

Edinburgh."  His  brothers  James,  Hugh,  and  John 
are  mentioned  as  having  to  receive  ic-  merks  each  for 
their  "bairns'  part  of  his  father's  gudis,"  and  his 
mother  Marion  Somerville  had  to  be  paid  "  iiic  merks 
for  hir  pairt  of  my  faderis  gudis." 

To  his  sister  Barbara  he  bequeathed  800  merks, 
to  be  received  from  the  marriage  of  James  Cock- 
burn,  his  heir,  which  he,  being  present,  personally 
acknowledged.  To  Agnes  Somerville  he  left  200 
merks;  to  William  Cockburn,  his  son,  400  merks, 
and  thir  xiiijc-  merkis  foirsaid  to  be  uptane  of  the 
marriage  of  the  [heir?]  of  Scraling.  His  brother 
John  was  to  have  all  his  raiment  and  household 
utensils  of  silver,  earthenware,  &c.  His  tenants  in 
Scraling  were  remitted  their  teinds  of  the  year  then 
running,  and  the  tenants  in  Heudis  and  Robertown 
one  term's  rent.  His  brother-german  James,  and 
Alexander  Somervell  of  Torbroks,  were  named  his 
executors,  and  his  mother  Marioun  Somervill  as 
superior ;  and  she  was  to  be  sole  executrix  if  the 
said  James  and  Alexander  could  not  agree  ;  and  he 
added  in  conclusion,  "  Gif  ther  be  ony  personis  that 
I  haf  wrangit  be  takin  of  geir  and  unjustly  haldin 
fra  thaim,  I  will  that  my  moder  mak  to  them  restor- 
ance."  These  things  were  done  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning  in  the  dwelling-house  [hospitium  j  of  the 
testator,  before  David  Somerville,  William  Cokburn, 
Edward  Forrest,  Gilbert  Gilpatrick,  and  James 
Somervell  of  Humby. 

Keg.  Great  The  William   his   son,    mentioned  above,   had  letters  of 

legitimation  under  the  Great  Seal  of  Queen  Mary  in  1550. 
Perhaps  the  Agnes  Somervill  mentioned  in  same  clause  of 
this  will  was  his  mother.  He  married  Christian,  daughter  of 
Pennicuik  of  that  Ilk.  She  remarried  John  Spens.  William 


241 

was  styled  of  Claverhill,  in  the  barony  of  Maner,  and  his  son 
William  Cockburn  is  called  "  pupil  son  and  heir  of  Claver-  j?eg-  Of  Deeds, 
hill,"   in   a   contract   betwixt   James    Cockburn  of  Scraling,  Scott.  Office, 
Alexander    Crychton    of  Newhall,    and    Issobel    Cockburn,  238. '"'  fol' 
spouse  to  David   Kincaid  of  the  Coittis,  his  trustees,  and 
Christian  Pennecuik,  his  mother,  and  her  second  husband, 
John  Spens,  regarding  certain  money  due  to  William  and  his 
sisters  Katherine  and  Elizabeth.     John  Pennicuik  of  Penne- 
cuik was  witness  to  this  deed  executed  at  Edinburgh  izth 
November  1555. 

In  1636  James  Cockburn,  "sometime  in  Claverhill,  now 
baillie  of  Skirling,  and  Marion  Hamilton,  his  spouse,"  gave  an 
obligation  for  300  merks  to  Alison  Cockburn,  relict  of  Alex-  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
ander  Row,  minister  of  Stobo.  vo1-  449- 

In    1627   he    appeared   at   the   Wappenschawing  on    the 
Borow-Muir  of  Peebles,  called  King's-Muir,  as  representative 
of  his  father-in-law,  Sir  John  Hamilton  of  Skirling,  "  accom- 
panied with  horsemen,  all  with  lances  and  swords,  and  four  Pennecuik's 
jacks,  in  the  parishes  of  Skirling  and  Roberton  in  Lanark-  Tweeddale, 
shire."  p-  304- 


vii.  %\\,  3ames  Cockburn  of  Skirling 

succeeded  his  brother.     He  was  a  staunch  adherent 

of  Queen  Mary,  and  his  name  is  mentioned  conspi- 

cuously on  many  occasions,  when  he  displayed  ability 

and  judgment  not  less  worthy  of  admiration  than 

his  courageous  loyalty.     The   note  of  his  retour  is 

dated    26th    February    1551.      "Jacobus    Cokburn  f2ef1"'  i- 

hseres  Willelmi  Cokburn  de  Skirling  militis  fratris 

in   terris  et  baronia  de    Skirling   cum    advocatione 

ecclesiae  de  Skirling  et  Capellaniae  ejusdem."     On 

3d  May  in  the  following  year  he  had  granted  to  him- 


self and  his  heirs,  "  20  libratas  terrarum  de  Dawick,  R'?- 

_  .  Seal,  vol.  iv.( 

10  libratas  terrarum  de  Syntoun   antiqui  extentus  NO.  691. 
cum    turris   &c.  vie  Peblis    et  Selkirk,"  which  had 
fallen  to  the  Queen  by  reason  of  the  forfeiture  for 


242 


Rtg.  Privy 
Seal,  lib.  xxiv., 
fol.  139- 


Pitcairn's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  p.  479. 


treason  of  James  Wache  [Veitch]  of  Dawick.  The 
record  in  the  Privy  Seal  Register  is  merely  of  "  the 
gift  of  the  ward  and  non-entry  of  Dawick." 

James  Baron  of  Skirling  held  a  prominent  position 
at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  James  VI.,  as  appears  from 
the  quaint  description  of  the  events  of  1566-7  in 
Mr.  Pitcairn's  Collection  : — "  The  Nativitie  and  birth 
of  our  Noble  Prince  was  in  the  Castel  of  Edinburgh 
ye  1 7  Junii,  at  17  hours,  in  ye  year  of  our  Lord 
1566.  His  baptiseing  was  in  Stirling  be  the  Bischop 
of  St.  Andrews.  The  King  of  France  and  ye 
Queen  of  England  be  the  ambaxattis  being  witnesses 
.  .  .  The  Quene  sent  ane  funt  of  gold  [twa  stane 
wecht,  says  Johnston]  to  his  baptiseing.  .  .  .  The 
said  Monseor  de  Breane  namit  him  be  command  of 
ye  King  of  France  CHARLES.  The  said  Erie  of  Bed- 
ford namit  him  be  command  of  ye  Queen  of  England 
JAMES,  quilk  we  retein.  .  .  .  The  King  remayned 
and  lay  in  ye  Kirk  of  Field,  and  many  and  divers 
tymes  ye  Queen  cam  to  sie  how  he  did,  he  being 
very  seik.  He  being  in  his  bed  ye  gth  February 
1566  at  twa  in  ye  bell  after  midnycht,  was  blawene 
in  ye  air,  and  ye  haill  lodging.  .  .  .  The  Erie  of 
Murray  departit  to  France  within  ane  moneth  after 
ye  said  slaughter.  .  .  .  The  Prince  wes  sent  to  ye 
Lord  Erskine  at  Stirling  ye  8  of  March  in  ye  year  of 
God  1567,  and  he  delyverit  ye  Castell  of  Edinburgh 
to  her  grace  ye  same  day,  quhilk  shee  gave  in  keeping 
to  Schir  William  Cockburne  of  Scirling,  Kny',  who 
keipit  ye  samyn  till  ye  22  of  Appryll,  and  than  Schir 
James  Balfour  of  Pittendreich,  Knicht,  Laird  of 
Burghley,  was  made  Captane  thereof."  The  name 
of  William  is  evidently  a  mistake,  as  shown  by  the 
retour  quoted. 


243 

"  A  mighty  marvell  was    shown  on  the  day  the  Diary  of 
castell  was  randered  to  Cokburn  of  Skirling  at  ye  1°^^ 
Queene's   command.      Ther  rais   ye  same  day  ane  Edi"bur£h' 
vehement  tempest  of  vund,  which  blew  a  very  grate 
ship  out  of  ye  rode  at  Lieth,  and  sicklyk  blew  the 
taile  from  ye  cocke  wich  standes  on  ye  tope  of  ye 
steiple   away    frome  it,  so    the   old    prophesy   cam 
trew— 

"  Quhen  Skirling  sail  be  capitane 
Ye  cocke  sail  vante  his  taile." 

There  must  have  been  some  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  gave  rise  to  such  an  odd  saying, 
referring  to  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  Cockburns. 

When  Mary  Stuart  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
her  greatest  enemy,  the  jealous  Elizabeth,  Sir  James 
Cockburn  loyally  watched  her  interests. 

"  About  the  end  of  September  1568  the  Regent, 
and  those  joyned  with  him  in  commission,  took  their 
journey  into  England,  and  came  to  York  the  5th 
October.  The  same  day,  and  almost  the  same  hour, 
came  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Sussex,  and  Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  Chancellor  of  Archbishop 

'  ,         .  ....  Spottis- 

the  Dutchy  of  Lancaster,  having  commission  from  woode's 
the  Queen  of  England  to  hear  and  determine  all 
questions,  controversies,  debates,  and  contentions 
betwixt  her  sister,  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  sub- 
jects adhering  to  her  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Earl 
of  Murray  and  others  refusing  to  acknowledge  her 
authority,  and  adhering  to  the  Prince,  her  son,  on  the 
other.  .  .  .  Some  two  days  after,  John  Lesley, 
Bishop  of  Ross,  William,  Lord  Levingston,  Robert, 
Lord  Boyd,  Gawan,  Commendator  of  Kilwining,  and 
James  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  Commissioners  for  the 

M   I 


244 

Scottish  Queen,  entered  the  city.  ...  An  oath 
was  presented  to  both  parties  by  the  Commissioners 
of  England.  .  .  .  Before  they  took  the  oath,  the 
Commissioners  for  the  Queen  of  Scotland  protested 
'  that  although  the  Queen  their  Mistresse  was 
pleased  to  have  the  differences  betwixt  her  and  her 
disobedient  subjects  considered  and  dressed  by  her 
dearest  sister  and  cousen,  the  Queen  of  England,  or 
by  the  Commissioners  authorised  by  her,  yet  she  did 
not  acknowledge  herself  subject  to  any  Judge  on 
Earth,  she  being  a  free  Princesse,  and  holding  her 
imperial  crown  of  God  alone.'"  It  was  a  manly, 
patriotic  protest  made  by  brave  Bishop  Lesley, 
James  Cockburn,  and  their  brother  Commissioners, 
and  had  weight  with  those  representing  Elizabeth, 
whom  Mary's  unnatural  brother  would,  it  was  made 
very  evident,  have  desired  then  and  there  "  to  have 
gevin  sentence  of  guilty  against  the  King's  mother," 
and  delivered  her  into  his  hands. 

Sir  James  Cockburn  of  course  fell  under  his  bitter 
animosity.  He  charged  him  with  complicity  in  the 
murder  of  Darnley,  and,  though  failing  to  establish 
the  accusation  by  any  evidence,  got  the  Lords  of 
the  Secret  Council,  Morton,  Athol,  Mar,  Glencairn, 
Keg.  of  the  and  Home,  to  issue  an  order,  7th  July  1=567,  "  to  all 

Privy  Council,  1-1          i  i          i  •         •          /-      i 

vol.  ii.,  p.  134.  and  smdry  legis  and  subjectis  of  the  realme,  that 
nane  of  thaim  tak  upon  hand  to  answer,  obey,  and 
mak  payment  to  James  Cokburn  of  Scraling,  or  ony 
chamberlains  or  collectouris  to  be  made  and  con- 
stitute be  him,  of  ony  rentis,  fruitis,  or  duties  quhat- 
sumever;"  and  on  8th  May  1572  he,  with  Hew, 
Lord  Somerville,  having  failed  "to  appear  and 
answer  the  Lord  Regent's  Grace  and  the  Lords 
of  the  Secret  Council,  it  was  ordained  that  these  two 


245 

be  put  to  the  horn,"  and  "  ye  place  of  Skirling,  by  Birreii's 
the  Regent's  order,  was  blawin  up  with  gunpowder 
and  destroyit,   at  the  quhilk  time  the  laird  thereof 
was  in  England." 

It  was  a  strong  and  important  castle,  admirably 
situated  for  defence,  and  from  the  vestiges  of  the 
walls  must  have  been  large.      "It  was  surrounded 
by  a  morass  or  bog  [the  old  moat],  except  a  small  Pennecuik's 
space  on  the  south-west  side,  and  that  was  defended  ^62?Note. 
by  turrets ;  the  entry  to  the  house  was  by  a  bridge 
of  stone  over  this  bog." 

Sir   James    Cockburn    married   Joneta   or   Janet 
Herries,  one  of  the  three  daughters  and  co-heiresses 
of  William,  third  Lord  Herries  of  Terregles.     She  xeg.  Great 
resigned  [with   consent  of  her   grandfather,   James  ^562, 581, 
Kennedy  of  Blairquhan,  then  no  doubt  an  infirm  old  695- 
man,  easily  influenced]  her  third  share  of  the  estates 
to  Lord  John  Hamilton,  second  son  of  James,  Earl 
of  Arran  and    Duke  of  Chatelherault.     Her  sister 
Katherine,  afterwards  married  to  Alexander  Stuart 
of  Garlics,  and  so  ancestress  of  the  Earls  of  Gallo- 
way, did  the  same.     Their  elder  sister  Agnes  was 
more    fortunate,     and    being    protected    by    being 
married,  had  her  third  settled  upon  herself  and  her  /<&/.,  NO.  405. 
husband,  John,  Magister  de  Maxwell,  in   1550,  who 
became  jiire  iixoris  fourth  Lord  Herries  of  Terre- 
gles.    He  was,  like   James   Cockburn,  a  bold  and  Diurnal  of 
uncompromising  friend  of   Mary  Stuart.      On  the 
1 4th  day  of  April  1569  he  was  put  inward  in  the 
Castell  of  Edinburgh,  at  aucht  houris  in  the  evin,  be- 
caus  he  wald    nocht  acknowledge  the  Kingis  auc- 
toritie  nor  my  Lord  Regent's. 

By  the  Lady  Janet  Herries  Sir  James  had  a  son 
William,  his  successor,  and  a  daughter  Jean.      On 


246 

the  24th  December  1586,  a  "contract  was  made 
between  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Scraling,  Knight, 
Dame  Jeane  Herreis,  his  spouse,  and  Jeane  Cock- 
Reg.  of  Duds,  burn,  their  daughter,  on  the  one  part,  and  James 
voTxx?;!?"'  Hamilton  of  Libberton,  with  consent  of  Christian 
foi.  109. '  Boyd,  his  spouse,  and  also  of  Robert  Lord  Boyd, 
Sir  James  Hamilton  of  Crawfordjohn,  Knight, 
William  Cunninghame  of  Caprington,  and  Alexander 
Hamilton  of  Netherfield,  whereby,  for  the  sum  of 
1000  merks  paid  to  the  said  James  Hamilton  of 
Libberton,  he,  with  the  consent  of  the  foresaid, 
infefts  the  foresaid  Sir  James  Cockburn,  his  spouse 
and  daughter,  in  the  Mains  of  Libberton,  parish  of 
Carnewath  and  shire  of  Lanark.  Hew  Cockburn, 
brother  to  the  said  Sir  James,  and  James  Cockburn, 
burgess  of  Haddington,  were  witnesses. 

Sir  James,  who  died  two  years  afterwards,  desired 
possibly  to  leave  this  property  as  a  residence  for  his 
wife  and  daughter,  foreseeing  that  things  would  not 
go  on  pleasantly  with  their  son  and  his  wife. 
ibid.,  vol.  Disputes  arose  very  soon,  for  on   i6th  December 

«77™  I59°  "Dame  Jean  Herries,  Ladye  Skirling,  agreed 

to  a  decreet-arbitral  and  submission,  by  which  she 
resigned  to  her  son  her  liferent  and  interest  in  the 
New  Maynes  of  Skirling,  as  arranged  by  the  arbiters 
between  them,  who  were  Edward  Maxwell,  younger 
of  Lamington,  John  Keyth  of  Ravenscraig,  and  John 
Cockburn  of  Newholme.  Jeane  Lady  Skirling 
seems  always  to  have  been  resigning  her  rights, 
and  to  have  been  troubled  in  her  possessions.  On 
this  occasion  her  son  was  perhaps  urged  on  by 
his  wife,  Helen  Carmichael,  who  remarried  James 
Tuedy  of  Drummelzier,  and  with  him  persecuted 
the  poor  old  lady  to  such  an  extent  that  she  had 


247 

to  seek  redress  and  protection  from  the  Lords  of 
the  Council. 

On  the    25th    January    1602   she   appeared   per-  Reg.  of  Privy 
sonally  before  them  and  preferred   her  complaint,  yCp"^™' 
stating  that  "  although   she  is  servit  and  kennit  to 
the    sonny  terce  and  thrid    parte    of  the   lands  of 
Lethame,  Wittoun,  Brumisfield  alias  Cowslandis  and 
Newark,  and  to  the  9  acres  of  land  lying  on  the 
south  of  Haddington,  shire  of  Edinburgh,  and  has 
ever  since  the  decease  of  her  husband  been  in  pos- 
session of  the  same  by  uplifting  the  maills  and  profits 
from  the  tenants,  yet  Helene  Carmichael,  relict  of 
William  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  and  James  Tuedy  of 
Drummelzier,  now  her  spouse,  have  masterfully  up- 
lifted from  the  said  tenants  the  maills  and  fermes  for 
the  crops  1601  and  1602,  and  threatened  to  bereave 
them  of  their  lives  if  they  did  not  comply."     The 
more  to  "  utter  his  bangstrie  and  oppressioun,"  the 
said  James    compelled    the    said  tenants    to  oblige 
themselves,  in  the  Sheriff  books  of  Haddington,  to 
pay  him  the  profit  of  the  said  lands,  so  that,  being 
subject  to  double  payment,  they  are  constrained  to 
leave  the  said  lands  waste  ;  further,  about  Martin- 
mas last  the  said  Tuedy  and  his  servants  "  reft  from 
the  complainer's  tenants  of  her  conjunct-fee  lands  of 
Nether  Mains  of  Skirling  two  oxin  belonging  to  her. 
She    is  ane   ageit    gentilwoman,    destitute    of    her 
husband  and  freindis,   quha  ar  dwelling  far  frome 
hir."     As  both  parties  appeared,  the  Lords  remitted 
the  matter  to  the  Judge  Ordinary,  but  ordain  Tuedy 
to  find  caution  for  the  indemnity  of  the  pursuer  in 
^1000  in  forty-eight   hours  hereof,   under  pain  of 
rebellion.     This  order  was  but  of  little  use  to  "  the 
poor  ageit  gentilwoman."     Her  son's  widow  and  her 


248 

husband  did  not   leave  her  in    peace;   for   on    3d 
C«P.       March    -n   the   fouowjng    year,    "James    Tuedy  of 

Drummelziare,  as  principal,  and  Syme  Scott  of  Bon- 
nyngtoun  as  suretie,  are  again  bound  over  under 
penalties  not  to  harm  Dame  Jeane  Herreis,  Lady 
Skirling,  relict  of  Sir  James  Cokburn  of  Skirling, 
conform  to  the  charge  given  25th  January  1603." 

viii.  Sir  ffiilliam  Cockburn  of  Skirling 

succeeded  his  father  in  the  estates  in  the  counties  of 
Peebles  and  Haddington.  On  i6th  July  1590  Sir 
William  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  Knight,  Patrick 
Cockburn,  tutor  of  Langton,  and  John  Cockburn  of 
Newholme  were  present  at  the  assize,  and  gave 
security  for  their  friends  and  relatives,  James  Tuedy 
of  Drummelzier,  Adam  Tuedy  of  Drava,  William 
Tuedy  of  the  Wrae,  John  Crychton  of  Quarter, 
Andro  Creychton  in  Cardowne,  and  Thomas  Por- 
teous  of  Glenkirk,  all  accused  of  being  art  and  part 
in  the  slaughter  of  Patrick  Veitch,  son  to  William 
Veitch  of  Daick  or  Dawick. 

On  the  6th  September  1591  the  complaint  of 
ibid.,  vol.  v.,  Margaret  Hay  was  laid  before  the  Lords  of  Council 
by  Alexander  Horsburgh  of  Harcaris,  setting  forth 
that  "  in  August  last  His  Majesty  being  occupiit  at 
the  honourable  actioun  of  the  baptism  of  the  Prince, 
His  Hienes'  darrest  son,  quhen  his  Majesty's  puir 
subjectis  luikit  leist  for  ony  wrang  or  violence, 
Thomas  Hay,  brother  of  John  Hay  of  Smeithfield, 
John  Govane,  Thomas  Govane,  and  others,  came  to 
compleaner's  mother  in  Sheiplaw,  shire  of  Peeblis, 
and  carried  hir  away  with  thame  to  the  place  of 
Haltrie,  thinkand  to  have  misusit  her  at  their  plesur, 


249 

sho  being  a  puir  young  damesell  of  xiiii.  yeris  of  age, 
and  sua  had  done  indeid  were  nocht  sho  reskewit 
furth  of  thair  handis  by  William  Cockburn  of  Sera- 
ling,  who  still  detanis  hir  in  his  house  of  Scraling. 
The  Lords  ordain  that  William  Cockburn  should 
release  hir  sua  that  sho  may  remane  with  hir  said 
moder  and  vthir  friendis  at  her  pleseir,  within  six 
hours,  under  pain  of  rebellion.  The  puir  young 
damesell  would  have  perhaps  been  safer  to  remain 
under  the  protection  of  Sir  William  Cockburn,  his 
mother,  and  wife.  The  story  is  altogether  suspicious. 
On  the  3Oth  September  1594  Sir  William  Cockburn 
of  Skirling  and  Patrick  Cockburn,  tutor  of  Langton, 
were  again  sureties  for  James  Tuedy  and  John 
Tuedy,  tutor  of  Drummelzier,  accused  of  having 
given  countenance  to  "  the  unnatural  and  odious 
rebellioune  of  Francis,  sumtyme  Erie  of  Bothuill, 
manifested  to  the  haill  world,  and  his  manifest  con- 
tempt of  ouer  Soueraine  Lordis  autorite."  All  so 
charged  were  at  this  time  pursued  and  punished  with 
great  rigour  ;  men  of  unimportant  position  had  short 
trial,  and  were  hanged  without  mercy  "  for  enter- 
teyning  of  the  said  Francis  ; "  others,  like  "  my  Lord 
Home,  who  made  repentance  unto  the  New  Kirk 
befoir  the  Assemblie  on  hys  knees,"  had  to  find  good 
security  for  their  future  conduct- 
On  the  22d  December  1595  Sir  William  Cock- 
burn  of  Skirling  is  found  as  suretie  in  the  sum  of 
^"2000  that  James  Lord  Hay  of  Yestir  should  not 
harm  John  Hay  of  Smithfield,  or  his  son  John.  Res.  of  Privy 
No  doubt  there  was  no  great  regard  felt  by  the 
Laird  of  Skirling  for  the  latter,  or  by  them  towards 
him,  after  what  had  taken  place. 

In    1592    King  James  VI.,    "with  avyse  of  the 


250 

present  Parliament,  having  consederacioune  of  ye 
gude  and  thankful  services  done  to  His  Majesty, 
and  umquhile  our  darrest  mother,  by  umquhile  Sir 
,  James  Cockburn,  father  to  William  Cockburn,  now 
.  583.  Of  skirling,  ordanis  ane  new  infeftment  to  be  granted 
to  him  vpoun  his  own  resignacioune  off  all  and  haill 
the  landis  and  baronie  of  Skirling,  with  tower, 
fortalice,  and  toune  of  ye  samyn,  with  erection  of  the 
said  toune  of  Skirling  to  be  erected  into  a  free  burgh 
of  baronie,  &c.  This  was  a  very  easy  and  inexpen- 
sive way  of  recognising  the  services  of  Sir  James. 
It  does  not  appear  that  filial  gratitude  induced  King 
James  to  assist  his  son  with  means  to  rebuild  his 
ancestral  castle,  destroyed  as  the  reward  of  his 
fidelity  to  "  our  darrest  mother." 

Sir  William  Cockburn  married  Helen  Carmichael, 
who,  unhappily  for  the  welfare  of  his  family,  re- 
married, as  has  been  related,  his  kinsman,  James 
Tuedy  of  Drummelzier.  James  V.  invited  himself 
to  the  marriage  in  1536  of  Marjorie,  the  Lord 
MemorUofthe  Somerville's  daughter,  "to  the  Laird  of  Drum- 
melzier, chief  of  the  Tweedies,  as  eminent  a  barone 
and  of  as  great  command  as  any  in  Tweeddale." 
When  Sir  William  stood  as  sponsor  so  often  to  their 
descendant  in  his  troubles  as  a  young  man,  little  did 
he  think  that  he  would  marry  his  widow,  and  so 
grievously  harass  his  mother.  He  had  by  Helen  a 
son  William,  his  heir,  and  a  daughter  Isobel,  married 
to  Sir  David  Crichton  of  Lugton,  who  had  as  her 
dower  the  lands  of  Hollinglee  in  Selkirkshire.  In 
1638  "Sir  David  Crichton  of  Lugton,  Knight,  and 
Isabell  Cockburn,  Lady  Lugton,  gave  discharge  to 
William  Graham  of  550  merks  maills  of  the  lands  of 
Hollinglee,  which  belonged  to  the  said  Lady." 


Sotntrvills. 


Reg.  of  Deeds, 
vol.  512. 


251 


ix.    William    Olockburn   of    Skirling 

was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  Sir  William  loth 
December  1603,  in  the  barony  of  Skirling,  and  in 
the  lands  of  Robertistoune  and  Newholme,  County 
Peebles,  and  Heudis,  County  Lanark,  annexed  to 
the  barony  of  Skirling;  also  on  igth  March  1607  in 
those  of  Lethame,  which  lay  near  Barrowfield, 
County  Haddington,  both  of  which  were  granted  to 
his  ancestor  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton  in 
1361-1367.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  all  the 
principal  possessions  of  his  house  had  come  down  to 
him.  In  1621  he  sold  the  ancient  heritage  of  Skir- 
ling to  Alexander  Peebles,  whose  daughter  and 
heiress  married  Sir  John  Hamilton,  who  thus  became 
proprietor  of  the  estate.  On  igth  May  1630  William 
Cockburn,  "sometime  of  Skirling,"  was  retoured  heir 
to  Walter  Sinclair,  father  of  his  grandmother's  grand 
uncle,  to  Christian  Sinclair,  mother  of  the  late  Adam 
Cockburn  of  Skirling,  his  great-great-grandfather, 
and  to  William  Cockburn,  brother  of  his  great-great- 
grandfather, and  to  Adam  Cockburn,  his  great-great- 
grandfather. The  names  should  have  been  trans- 
posed. By  the  charter  under  the  Great  Seal  of  James 
IV.  in  1511,  referred  to  in  its  place,  Sir  William, 
fifth  Baron  of  Skirling,  is  distinctly  stated  to  have 
been  the  son  of  Sir  William,  Adam's  younger  brother 
and  his  successor  in  the  estates.  These  services 
were  obtained  probably  to  establish  his  right  to 
scattered  remnants  of  his  heritage,  although  what 
object  was  to  be  gained  by  having  himself  served 
heir  to  Christian  Sinclair  and  her  father  is  not 
evident,  as  the  barony  of  Cessford  and  its  appanages 
had  so  long  passed  to  the  Kerrs.  He  had  a  son 

N   I 


Inquisit. 
Retorn. 
Abbrev,, 
County 
Peebles,  iii,, 
60 ;  ibid., 
County 
Lanark. 


Ibid.,  County 
Haddington, 
iv.,  141. 


General 
Services. 


252 


William,  who  in  1656  had  sasine  of  the  lands  of 
Standanflat  and  Peilflat,  in  the  regality  of  Dalkeith, 
and  this  William,  then  a  Major  in  the  Army,  had  an 
13,  foi.  290.  additional  sasine  in  1668  of  some  portions  of  the 
lands  of  Peilflat,  in  the  parish  of  Newbottle  and 
regality  of  Dalkeith,  on  charter  from  William,  Earl 
of  Lothian.  He  married  Mary  Melrose,  and  had  a 
son,  also  in  the  Army,  and  several  daughters.  The 
eldest,  Janet,  married  Archibald  Hislop,  portioner  of 
Monckton,  and  had  by  her  marriage-contract,  dated 
d.,  vol.  37,  1  9th  May  1686,  sasine  of  an  annual  rent  out  of 
Monckton  Hall,  County  Haddington.  Her  brother 


Inquisit. 
Retorn. 
Abbrtv. , 
County 
Edinburgh, 
No.  1334. 


Cockburn  of  Stonyflatt,  1700. 

William  was  retoured  yth  January  1692  "  hseres  vice 
collonelli  Gulielmi  Cockburne  de  Standanflatt  et 
Peilflatt  infra  parochiam  de  Newbottle  et  regalitatem 


253 

de  Dalkeith."  He  was  also  on  the  same  day  served 
heir  to  his  said  father,  "  vice-collonelli  Gulielmi 
Cockburne,"  in  some  small  portions  of  the  most 
ancient  possessions  of  his  forefathers,  i.e.,  "4  bovatis 
terrarum  de  Milncraig  de  Dolphingstoune,  aliter  4 
bovatis  terrarum  de  Robertoune  vulgo  nuncupatis 
'  the  Milnerig '  infra  parochiam  de  Dolphingstoune  et 
vicecomitatem  de  Lanerk,  et  per  annexationem  infra 
baroniam  de  Skirling  et  vicecomitatem  de  Peebles 
pro  principali  :  4  bovatis  terrarum  baroniae  de  Skir-  No-  397- 
ling  vulgo  nuncupatis  '  Littlemains '  de  Skirling  in 
warrantizationem,"  &c. 

He  had  a  son  William,  also  a  soldier.  Mr.  Nisbet 
calls  Lieutenant  William  Cockburn  of  Stonyflat 
representer  of  Skirling,  and  gives  his  arms  as  de- 
picted above,  argent,  a  spear's  head  between  three  Nisbet's 
cocks  gules;  crest,  a  dexter  arm  holding  a  broken  edit"?  1722, 
launce  proper ;  motto,  Press  through.  I  n  accordance  p'  355' 
with  their  martial  instincts,  and  perhaps  in  the 
laudable  but  forlorn  hope  of  restoring  by  their  swords 
the  position  of  their  knightly  race,  this  military 
family  adopted  their  crest  and  motto,  and  placed 
between  the  three  cocks  a  spear's  head  instead  of 
a  buckle,  formerly  borne  on  the  fesse  point  of  the 
shield.  Mr.  Nisbet,  quoting  Balfour  and  Font's 
MS.,  gives  the  same  bearing,  [registered  in  the  Lyon 
Office  as  that  of  the  Cockburns  of  Stonyflat],  to  their 
ancestors  of  Skirling.  If  this  change  was  made,  it 
certainly  was  some  two  or  three  generations  after 
Sir  David  Lindsay's  time,  although  those  figures 
had  been  assumed  by  some  of  the  name  before  the 
date  of  his  armorial,  1542.  A  spear  and  a  broken 
spear  both  appear  in  the  singular  coat  of  arms,  of 
which  an  imagined  representation  is  here  produced, 


254 


which  belonged  to  an  unfortunate  gentleman  of  the 
name  of  Cockburn,  a  scion  possibly  of  the  House  of 
Skirling,  who  was  slain  apparently  and  stripped  of 


his  armour  by  a  certain  doughty  George  Bullock, 
master  gunner  of  Berwick-upon-Tweed  in  the  year 
1541,  who,  having  slain,  took  possession.  In  the 
most  formal  and  matter  of  fact  way  he  adopted  the 
coat  of  armour  he  had  "  wonne,"  as  set  forth  in  the 
underneath  very  curious  document.  George  Morton, 
the  worthy  Mayor  of  Berwick,  knew  nothing  we  may 
suppose,  and  cared  less,  about  the  laws  of  heraldry, 
or  the  powers  of  Garter  or  Lyon  Kings-of-Arms. 

"  To  all  trewe  Christian  people  to  whom  this  presente  writinge 
shall  come,  Knowe  ye  That  I  George  Morton  of  the  Quenes 
Mades  towne  of  Banvick  vpon  Tweede  Gentilman  Mayour  of  the 
same  towne  with  the  Aldermen  there  Sende  gretinge  in  ower 
Lorde  God  everlasting  for  as  moche  as  yt  Behoveth  Everie 
Christian  to  witnes  and  recorde  in  all  matters  of  truthe  Being 
therevnto  requyred  for  the  Better  avoydinge  of  all  sequele  dowbtes, 
And  thadvancemente  of  the  veritie  Know  ye  that  we  the  Sayde 
Mayour  and  Aldermen  the  day  of  Makinge  hereof  have  perfytlye 
sene  and  perused  the  Laste  will  and  testamente  of  George  Bullock 
late  Master  Conner  over  the  Companye  of  the  Ordynarye  gonners 


\ 


255 

of  Barwick  aforesayde  which  beryth  dayte  the  xiijte  daye  of  June/ 

1568  in  the  Tenth  yere  of  our  Soveraigne  Ladie  Elizabeth  the 

queues  Ma"es  reigne  that  now  ys  In  which  Will  and  testamente 

the  sayde  George  Bullock  doth  graunte  and  frelye  gyve  vnto  his 

sonne  in  Lawe  this  Berer  Rowland  Johnson  of  the  same  towne 

gentilman   The    Master   Mayson   and   Surveyor  of  the   quenes 

Maties  workes  there  /  An  armes   whiche   ys  two   speres  The  one 

Broken  and  the  other  hole  with  certayne  Moorcockes  standinge 

in  a  shielde  Whiche  sheilde  ys  thone  halfe  blacke  And  the  other 

half  blewe  The  helmeth  Blewe  Mantyled  white  and  Black  with 

two  yellowe  tassells  Lyke  golde  at  the  endes.     Which  armes  was 

wonne  by  the  Sayde  George  Bullocke  vxviij'1  yeres  sence  of  a 

Scottishe  gentilman  one  of  the  house  of  Cockburne  And  nowe  the  British 

sayde  George  Bullocke  By  that  his  sayde  Laste  will  and  testa-  %"£££'  Ad' 

mente  dothe  frelye  gyve  and  Surrender  over  the  same  Armes  vnto   charter, 

his  sayde  Sonne  in  Lawe  Rowlands  Johnson  as  Beforesayde  for  to   19,882. 

gyve  or  vse  yt  in  euerye  condicion  as  Lardgelye  and  as  Amplye  as 

he  the  sayde  George  Bullock  mighte  or  owghte  to  have  gyven  yt 

in  His  Lyfe  tyme.     In  witnes  whereof  we  have  herevnto  affyxed 

the  Seale  of  the  Mayoraltye  of  the  sayde  towne  of  Barwyck  the 

xix*  'day  of  July  In  the  xjth  yere  of  the  Reigne  of  owre  Soveraigne 

Ladye  Elyzabeth    By  the   grace   of    God   Quene  of    Englonde 

ffrawnnce  And  yrelonde  defender  of  the  ffayth  et  cetera.     1569." 

With  regard  to  the  "  buckle "  in  the  coat  of 
Skirling,  it  differs  from  that  on  the  seal  of  Sir  Alex- 
ander Cockburn,  first  of  Langton,  A.D.  1340,  in 
having  the  tongue  erect  instead  of  fesse-ways,  and 
also  from  the  buckles  on  the  mantling  of  the  curious 
and  well-cut  seal  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Lang- 
ton,  A.D.  1440,  and  those  figured  by  Sir  David 
Lindsay  in  the  coat  of  "  Stewart  called  of  Bonkylle," 
and  others  tracing  descent  from  the  ancient  house  of 
Bonkyll  in  the  Merse. 

It  is  possible  that  the  first  Sir  William  Cockburn 
of  Skirling  adopted  this  -'buckle"  to  record  his 
descent  from  the  de  Monfodes,  who  may  have 
carried  this  figure  on  their  shields. 


256 

Who  they  were,  when  or  whence  they  came,  we 

know  not.     All  that  can  be  said  with  certainty  is 

Robertson's     that  they  "were   auld  with  us."     A  Laird  of  the 

^m'iiiel,        family,  styled  "  of  that  Ilk,"  remained  in  possession 

vol.  iii.  of  their  pleasantly  situated  lands  upon  the  Monfode 

Burn,  near  Ardrossan,  in  Ayrshire,  until  the  latter 

part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


COCKBURN  OF  CLERKINGTON, 

HADDINGTONSHIRE. 


I.  {Patrick  <£0ck|?Urn,  second  son  of  Sir  Alex- 
ander of  Langton,  the  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  was 
the  author  of  this  influential  family.  He  inherited 
the  Templelands  and  Myrside  of  Whitsun  in  the 
Merse,  which  were  his  mother  Marjorie  Hepburn's 
patrimony.  His  usual  designation  was  "of  New- 
biging,"  one  of  the  many  places  so  called  in  the 
Lothians  and  other  counties.  He  had  also  posses- 
sion of  Clarkintoun  or  Clerkingtoune,  held  from  the 
Abbacy  of  Cambuskenneth.  The  name  was  old. 
In  1337  "the  Marchers  of  England,  hering'of  the  a., p. 437. 
sege  of  Edinburgh,  cam  to  rescue  it,  so  that  the 
[Scots]  cam  thens  to  Clerkingtoune,  and  the  Eng- 
lischemenne  cam  to  Krechton,  when  betwixt  them 
and  the  Scottes  there  was  a  great  fight,  and  many 
slayne  on  both  parties." 

In  the  charter  from  Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas,  Reg.  Great 
in  1423  of  lands  in  Lanarkshire  to  his  brother,  Sir  ^.'256.' ' 
William  Cockburn  of  Langton,  he  was  named  heir 
thereto,    failing    William's    legitimate    descendants. 
His  wife  appears  to  have  been  either  the  sister  or 


258 

daughter  of  "  Sir  Robert  de  Lawedre  de  Edringtoun," 
County  Berwick,  Justiciar  of  Scotland,  who  had  new 
investitures  on  his  own  resignation  for  that  purpose 
RCS.Grtat  of  tne  lands  "de  le  Crag  et  de  Ballingowne  [Bal- 
No.29?'  gone]  ac  dimidiam  partem  de  le  Basse  in  baronia  de 
North  Berwik  et  constabularia  de  Haddingtoun,  et 
terras  de  Edrintoune  et  de  Simprim  vie  de  Bernico  ; 
terras  de  Estir  Pencatland  et  de  Newhall  in  consta- 
bularia de  Hadyntoun."  This  Newhall  [a  name 
nearly  as  common  in  Scotland  then  as  Newbigging] 
belonged  to  Patrick  Cockburn's  descendants. 

He  was  for  many  years  "  Prspositus  cle  ville  de 
Edinburgh,"  and  Governor  of  the  Castle  thereof.  In 

O      7 

Exchequer       iAA.6  he  received  payment  from  Walter  Cokburn. 

Kails,  Scot.,  /-TT      11-  r    i  •  r    <  i 

vol.  v.,  p.  Custumar  of  Haddington,  of  the  pension  ot  "  quadra- 
ginta  librarum,"  granted  to  him  for  three  years.  In 
the  same  Walter's  accounts  for  1448  xl.  Ib.  was  paid 
to  him  as  salary  for  the  term  between  the  Feast  of 
St.  Martin's  and  Pentecost.  He  had  also  xl.  lib. 
additional  "  pro  suis  laboribus  et  expensis  factis  circa 
obsidionem  castri  de  Dunbar  de  mandato  Regis." 

He  appears  to  have  been  succeeded  for  a  year  or 
two  by  his  kinsman  Patrick,  son  of  John  Cockburn 
of  Ormiston,  as  Constable  of  Edinburgh  Castle. 
This  Patrick  was  Sheriff  of  Haddington.  There 
being  three  Patrick  Cockburns  living  at  this  time, 
all  rather  prominent  men,  mistakes  have  been  made 
regarding  them.  This  Patrick  of  Ormiston  has  been 
given,  by  more  than  one  writer,  the  credit  of  the 
defence  of  Dalkeith  in  1452,  which  beyond  doubt 
belongs  to  the  second  Patrick  of  Clerkington.  He 
has  also  been  stated  to  have  been  one  of  the  embassy 
sent  to  treat  with  the  English  after  the  battle  of 
Sark ;  but  although  in  the  foregoing  memoir  of  the 


259 

Cockburns  of  Ormiston  this  statement  has  been 
repeated,  there  seems  very  great  reason  to  doubt  its 
correctness.  It  is  much  more  likely  to  have  been 
the  Laird  of  Newbigging,  who  certainly  was  one  of 
the  four  ambassadors  to  the  Court  of  Henry  VI.  in 
1449.  Their  commission  was  dated  loth  May,  by 
James  II.,  who  satisfied  "  de  fide,  legalitate,  et  cir- 
cumspectione  venerabilium  et  spectabilium  virorum 
Alexandri  domini  Montgomorry  consanguine!  nostri 
sincere  dilecti,  Domini  Johannis  Methven  Decretorum 
Doctoris,  Patricii  de  Cokburn  Praepositi  Burgi  nostri  Rymer's 
de  Edynburg  et  custodis  castri  ejusdem,  magistri  x*  pp?2 
Patricii  Yhong  Decani  ecclesise  Cathedralis  Dun-  ^  ^ 
keldensis,"  constituted  these  four,  or  three,  or  two  of 
them  to  act  as  his  special  commissioners  and  ambas- 
sadors. John  Methven,  the  Doctor  of  Decrees,  was 
apparently  the  chief  speaker  of  the  three  who  ap- 
peared in  London  ;  Montgomery  was  not  present  at 
the  agreement  made  for  a  truce  until  the  2Oth  Sep- 
tember of  same  year.  King  Henry  made  them  a 
present  of  ,£40  amongst  them.  When  this  truce 
had  nearly  expired,  Patrick  Cockburn  was  one  of 
another  embassy  who  arranged  at  Durham  for  an 
extension  until  the  igth  November  following.  The 
others,  to  whom  the  safe-conduct  was  granted,  were 
the  Bishops  of  Dunkeld,  Moray,  and  Brechin, 
Andrew  Hunter  Abbot  of  Melrose,  Alexander  de 
Lyvyngston  de  Calentare,  Justiciary  of  the  King- 
dom, Alexander  Dominus  de  Montgomery,  James 
Dominus  de  Hamilton,  Andrew  Dominus  de  Gray, 
Thomas  de  Cranstoun,  and  the  able  John  Methven. 
Patrick  Cockburn  must  have  been  about  seventy 
years  old  when  he  went  in  1449  as  ambassador  to 
London,  so  well  deserved  the  epithet  of  venerable. 

o  i 


260 


He  died  shortly  after  his  return,  being  succeeded  by 
his  son  Patrick.  The  Walter  Cockburn,  Custumar 
of  Haddington,  mentioned  above,  was  the  pro- 
prietor of  Harperdean,  and  was  a  scion  of  the  Skir- 
ling family.  Patrick  Hepburn,  Dominus  de  Halis, 
witnessed  the  sasine  "from  William  Cokburn  off 
Schralling  to  Walter  Cokburn  off  Harperdean." 


vol.  ii.,  P.  375. 


Swintonsof 


ii.   jpatrick   tfockburn    of   Clcrkington 

was  also  an  able  and  trusted  diplomatist  as  well  as 
a  most  gallant  soldier.  Sometimes  he  is  found  called 
Rotuti  Scotia,  of  Newbigging,  at  others  of  Clerkington.  When 
;n  I459  ne  i^  a  safe-conduct  from  the  English 
monarch,  he  is  designated  of  the  former  place,  as  also 
when  in  1464  he  was  named  amongst  the  "  nobilibus 
viris  "  who  sat  upon  the  inquest  held  with  reference 
to  l^e  lands  of  Cranschaws,  County  Berwick,  in 
dispute  between  the  Swintons  and  the  Oliphants. 

His  fame  rests  most  upon  his  brave  defence  of 
Dalkeith  Castle  in  1452.  "John,  or  rather  James 
Douglas,  Lord  Dalkeith,  who  married  the  King's 
sister,  and  so  fracke  on  that  side.  The  Erie  of 
Douglas  was  sa  much  the  more  incensed  against  him 
that  he  should  have,  without  regard  to  the  tie, 
joyned  with  the  enemies,  and  therefore  besieged  the 
Castle  of  Dalkeith,  binding  himself  by  an  oath  not 
to  depart  from  there  untill  he  had  gotten  it  taken. 
But  it  was  valliantly  defended  by  Patrick  Cockburn 

srs  -  ,,,      .  .  .  *          ,  '         , 

History  of  the  of  Llerkingtoune,  in  such  sort  that  after  he  was  con- 
*D™gfaand    strained  by  great  travell  and  trouble  of  his  men,  by 
Angus,  p.  197.  watching  and  many  wounds,  he  left  the  siege  and 
depart."      He  had  been  in  charge  of  the  castle  for 
many  years,  and  had  greatly  strengthened  it.     In 


Hume  of 

Godscroft's 


26l 

1444,  James  Giffard  and  his  brother  being  keepers  of 
the  middle  ward  of  it,  there  was  paid  to  them  x.  lb.,  Exchequer 
and  to  Patrick  Cockburn  xxvi.  lb.  xiii.  s.    iiij.  d.   ad  vol.  v.,  pfi 
reparacionem  domus  castri  de  Dalkeith  de  mandato 
regis,    testante    Jacobo   de    Levingstoun    capitaneo 
castri  de  Strivelyne.     In   1445  he  received  pro  cus- 
todia  dicti  castri  de  anno  compute  xiii.lb.  vi.  s.  viij.  d., 
et  pro  laboribus  et  expensis  suis  factis  in  servicio 
regis  x.  lb.,  and  Ix.  lb.  afterwards. 

We  do  not  find  that  any  very  especial  reward, 
such  as  knighthood,  was  bestowed  upon  him  for  his 
brave  defence  of  Dalkeith,  although  it  was  an 
achievment  noted  in  history,  and  one  that  materially 
assisted  in  bringing  about  the  final  result  of  the 
Earl's  rebellion,  which  ended  in  his  having  to  take 
refuge  at  the  Court  of  King  Henry,  who  in  1455 
granted  to  him  a  pension  of  ^"500  a  year,  to  be  paid 
to  him  until  such  time  as  he  should  recover  the 
whole  or  greater  part  of  his  possessions  which  had  Rymer's 
been  taken  from  him  "  by  the  person  calling  himself  xi.,  p.'se;.' 
King  of  Scotland."  He  imitated  the  facetiousness  of 
his  father,  the  hero  of  Agincourt,  who  in  an  angry 
mood  styled  James  I.  "  hym  that  calleth  himself 
Kyng  of  Scotland."  When  the  treaty  was  made  by 
Patrick  Cockburn,  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  and  his 
colleagues,  on  behalf  of  "the  High  and  Mighty 
Prince  the  King  of  Scots,"  with  King  Henry's 
commissioners,  it  was  certainly  stipulated  by  them 
"  that  nothing  to  be  seid  or  to  be  do  by  my  Lords 
and  Maisters  or  Me,  or  any  of  us,  fro  the  begynyng 
unto  the  ending  of  the  said  Tretie,  sail  in  any  wise 
hurte  or  Prejudice  the  right  or  title  which  he  oweth, 
or  pretendeth  to  have,  to  the  superiority  and  Pre- 
iminence  of  the  Londe  of  Scotland." 


262 


Rymer's 
Fadera, 
P-  365- 


Acts  of  Par!, 
of  Scotland, 
fames  III., 
p.  92. 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
No.  547. 


Exchequer 
Rolls,  vol.  5, 
P-  347- 


Patrick  Cockburn  had,  as  well  as  his  father,  various 
payments  made  to  him  for  his  services  in  "  negociis 
regis,"  having  more  than  once  gone  as  ambassador 
to  England.  In  1458  a  safe-conduct  was  granted 
"venerabilis  patris,  Jacobus  Kennedy  episcopus 
Sancti  Andrea,  Georgium  Shoreswode  Episcopus 
de  Brechyng,  Magistrum  Nicolaum  Oterburn,  Ja- 
cobum  de  Leyffyngston,  Magnum  Camerarium 
Scotise,  Andream  Dominum  de  Mungumery,  Domi- 
num  Hamylton,  Willelmus  de  Cranyston,  Patricium 
de  Cokburn,  with  a  hundred  attendants. 

In  1468  Patrick  Cockburn,  who  in  1456  had 
another  safe-conduct  for  three  months,  dated  I2th 
May,  was  still  in  the  public  service.  In  that  year  it 
was  ordained  that  "  thir  personis  be  sessione  of  Edin- 
burgh, for  the  barons,  the  Lord  Borthwic,  the  Lord 
Lindsay,  Patrick  Cokburn." 

He  had  the  fermes  of  the  Forest  of  Dyy,  County 
Berwick ;  but  this  was  "  in  modo  excambii  de 
Domina  Regina,"  for  the  lands  of  Halthornsyke, 
after  the  King's  death  at  Roxburgh  Castle  in  1460. 

He  married  Helen  de  D unbar,  a  lady  of  the  family 
of  Beill,  County  Haddington,  daughter  perhaps  of 
the  Patric  de  Dunbar  de  Bele  who  had  Mersington 
and  other  lands  in  the  Merse.  She  had  a  life-interest 
in  some  portion  of  the  barony  of  Petcokkis  or  Pet- 
cox.  "  Elizabethe,  relicta  Patricii  de  Dunbar,"  had 
charter  of  the  third  part  of  this  estate,  which  her 
husband  got  in  1452  from  his  father,  Sir  Patrick  de 
Bele.  Helen  was  one  of  the  industrious  ladies  of 
her  day,  and  had,  by  the  King's  command  to  Thomas 
de  Cranstoun  and  William  Bully,  "  custumarios 
burgi  de  Edinburgh,"  dated  i5th  July  1449,  remis- 
sion of  the  duty  of  "  liij.  s.  iiij.  d.  allocati  eisdem  duo- 


263 


rum  saccorum  lane  Domine  Helene  de  Dunbar, 
sponse  Patricii  Cokburn  de  Newbegyn."  The 
peculiar  name  of  Bully  was  old  in  Scotland.  When 
Edward  III.  was  in  the  north  Rafe  de  Bully  was 
"his  belovit  clerk." 

The  family  in  all  likelihood  were  of  the  race  of  de  Rey-  J°hn 
Builly,  Lords  of  the  honor  of  Tickhill,  and  of  vast  History  and 
territories  between  the  Trent  and  the  Tees.     There  1  "<$ 
were  not  many  of  the  noble  Norrnans  who  came  with  Blyth- 
the  Conqueror  who  were  of  higher  rank  than  Roger 
de    Builli,    or    whose    descendants    became    more 
powerful  for  a  time. 

By  his  wife,  Helen  Dunbar,  Patrick  Cockburn  had 
several  sons — James,  his  heir,  William,  Patrick,  and 
John,  whose  names  appear  in  connection  with 
appointments  held  by  them  in  the  constabulary  of 
Haddington. 


WILLIAM,  the  second  son,  is  styled  in  1464  "  of  New- 
haull."  His  wife  was  Beatrix,  daughter  of  James  Giffert  of 
Scheriffhal,  County  Edinburgh,  constabulary  of  Haddington. 

In  1467  he  witnessed,  with 
his  brother  "  James,  son  and 
heir  of  Patrick  Cokburn  de 
Newbigging,"  a  charter  to  the 
Cistercians  of  Newbottle.  His 
son,  Alexander  Dominus  de 
Newhall,  had  succeeded  to  the 
property  in  1504,  in  which  year 
his  uncle,  Alexander  Giffert, 
rector  of  Newlandis  and  Mail- 
vin,  gave  to  him  a  tenement 
"  in  villa  Edinburgi  ex  parte 
boreali  magni  vici  quod  prius 
fuit  Will.  Dowglas  de  Quitting- 
hame."  The  High  Street  of 
Edinburgh  must  have  presented 
a  different  aspect  in  those  days,  with  the  many  armed 


Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  Ap- 
pendix, pp. 
xlvi.,  Ixxii. 

Regislrum  S. 
Marie  de 
Nrabottle, 
pp.  268,  270. 


Cockburn  of  Newhall, 

Sir  D.  Lindesay's  Armorial, 

1542. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii., 
Nos.  1455, 
2789. 


264 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  ii. , 
No.  3185 


Acta  Domi- 
norum  Concilii 
et  Sessionii, 
vol.  xiii.,  fol. 
27. 


Ibid.,  fol.  46. 


retainers  waiting  before  the  entrances  to  the  abodes  of  the 
magnates  of  Scotland. 

Alexander  Cockburn  of  Newhall  married  his  kinswoman, 
Agnes,  daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Lauder  of  Bass,  from  whom 
his  predecessors  held  Newhall  as  the  superior.  It  appears 
that  for  some  reason  the  Crown  had  recalled  the  feudal  rights, 
for  on  ist  February  1507  "  Rex  pro  bono  servitio  relaxavit  et 
confirmavit  Roberto  Lawder  de  Basse  militi  et  ejus  heredibus 
talliae,  secundum  tenorem  antiquarum  evidentiarum  terras 
dimedie  partis  de  Basse  in  baronia  de  North  Berwik  consta- 
bularia  de  Hadingtoun  vie  Edinburgh,  et  terras  de  Newhall  in 
dictis  constab.  et  vie — que  terre  de  Newhall  in  regis  manibus 
recognite  fuerunt  &c.  cum  licentia  ad  infeodandum  Alex. 
Cokburn  in  terris  de  Newhall." 

This  Alexander's  son  of  same  name  who  succeeded  him 
was  a  dreadful  character.  His  unfortunate  wife  was  Elizabeth 
Creichton.  On  22d  June  1540  an  action  was  brought  by 
"  William,  George,  and  Elizabeth  Cokburn,  sons  and  daughter 
of  the  deceased  Elizabeth  Creichton,  and  sister's  bairns  of  the 
deceased  Mr.  Peter  Creichton ;  Katrine  Creichton,  sister  of 
the  said  Elizabeth  and  Mr.  Peter  ;  James  Creichton  of  Coitts, 
their  cousin-german  ;  and  John  Cokburn,  son  of  the  late 
Patrick  Cokburn,  nevoy  to  the  said  Elizabeth  Creichton, 
against  Gilbert  Wauchope  of  Nudry-merschal,  as  plege  and 
souertie  for  Alexander  Cokburn  of  Newhall  [father  of  the  said 
William,  George,  and  Elizabeth  Cokburn,  and  husband  of  the 
said  late  Elizabeth  Creichton],  for  payment  of  2000  merks  to 
the  pursuers  as  next  of  kin  to  the  said  Elizabeth  Creichton 
and  Mr.  Peter,  her  brother,  in  assythment  and  amendis  for 
their  slaughteris  committit  and  done  by  the  said  Alexander 
Cokburn  and  his  complicis  in  the  moneth  of  November  1519." 
Gilbert  Wauchope  tried  to  evade  the  claim,  alleging  that  the 
libel  was  general,  and  did  not  say  what  each  of  the  pursuers 
should  have.  The  Lords  decided  that  it  was  "  specials 
aneuch." 

Gilbert  Wauchope  tried  them  another  way  of  escape, 
alleging  that  "the  sons  of  the  said  Alexander  of  Newhall 
had  already  transacted  with  their  father  as  principal  comittar 
of  the  cryme,"  and  that  the  surety  should  not  now  be  sued. 
The  Lords  repel  the  allegance,  and  Mr.  Hew  Rig  for  the 
pursuers  protested  that  the  said  Gilbert  "be  not  hard  to 


265 

propone    ony    may    peremptouris."      He,    however,    made  Ada  Domi- 
another  attempt  on  the  ist  July  following,  protesting  that  he  «<""«/«, 
may  have   Alexander   Cokburn   of    Newhall   cited    for  his  f0] '  ^g1'' 
warrant  and  relief  at   the   hands   of  the   pursuers  for  the 
slaughter  of  the  said  Creichtons.     So  the  action  was  again 
called  upon  the  loth  of  the  same  month,  and  it  was  narrated  Ibid.,  fol.  68. 
that  the  said  Alexander  was  indicted  before  the  Justice  at 
Edinburgh  in  May  1527  for  art  and  part  of  the  cruel  slaughter 
of  the  said  Elizabeth  Creichton  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Peter  her 
brother,  and  that  "he  tuk  him  to  the  King's  grace  respett 
therfor,  and  found  the  said  Gilbert  Wauchope  with  himself 
pleges  and  souerties  conjoinctly  and  severally  for  satisfaction 
of  party."     So  the  Lords  found  Gilbert  Wauchope  liable  in 
1200  merks.    On  the  i8th  of  the  same  month  the  money  had  m^.,  fol.  100. 
been  paid,  and  discharge  is  recorded  by  William  Cockburn 
of    Newhall  and    George   Cokburn   in    Leith,  his   brother- 
german,  to  Gilbert  Wauchope  of  Nudry-Marschall  for  1200 
merks  of  assythment   for  the  murder  of  their  mother  and 
uncle.      Letters  of  distraint  against  their   father   Alexander 
had  been  granted  on  the  previous  day  for  relief  of  his  surety ; 
but  as  no  more  is  heard  of  him,  and  William  had  then  pos- 
session of  Newhall,  it  is  very  likely  the  miserable  man  was 
dead.      William  married  his  relative  Christian,  daughter  of 
Robert  Lauder  of  Poppill,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Robert  of  Bass. 
They  had  a  son,  Thomas,  married  to  Marion,  daughter  of  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
Hew  Douglas  of  Borg,  by  his  wife  Marion,  daughter  of  Sir  Scott.  Office^ 
William    Cockburn  of  Skirling.     By  their  marriage-contract 
William  Cockburn  of  Newhall  and  Thomas,  his  son,  bound 
themselves  to   infeft   Marion  Douglas,  future  spouse  to  the 
said  Thomas,  in  the  lands  of  Affleck-hill  and  Currie,  in  the 
Barony  of  Locherwart  or  Lochwood,  in  the  Sheriffdom  of 
Edinburgh.     Poppill  came  to  the  family  soon  after :  Patrick  inquisit. 
Cockburn  was  served  heir  to  his  father  Alexander  in  Poppill,  Ret°rn- 

.          _.  .    ,,          ,  Abbriv., 

on  precept  from  Chancery,  gth  May  1670.  County 

There  were  many  arrangements  about  lands  between  the  Haddington, 

Cockburns  of  Newhall  and  their  relatives  the  Lauders.     On  xxx''  ^°' 
1 6th  April  1543  confirmation  was  given  under  the  Great  Seal 
of  the  infant  Queen,  of  the  charter  of  William  Cokburn  of 

Newhall,  by  which,  for  a  sum  of  money  paid  to  him  by  Robert  g^  Qreat 

Lauder  of  Bas,  he  made  over  to  him  and  his  heirs  annuum  Seal,  vol.  Hi., 
redditum  42  librarum  de  terris  suis  de  Newhall,  Ballingreg,      °:     9S- 


266 


Wyntoun's 
Croiiykill 
Buke  viii., 
chap,  xi., 
line  6300. 

Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iii., 
No.  568. 


Reg.  of  Deeds, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  iii.,  fol. 
185. 


Hiemuir-Croce,  &c.  in  the  constabulary  of  Haddington, 
County  of  Edinburgh.  Scions  of  the  Newhall  branch  occu- 
pied also  the  lands  of  Lethame  and  Carlops,  the  superiority  of 
which  belonged  to  the  Cockburns  of  Skirling.  The  latter 
was  a  place  well  known  under  its  old  name  of  Karlinlippis. 
It  was  at 

Karlynlippis  and  Crosscryne, 
Thare  thai  made  the  marches  lyne. 

James  Cokburn  of  Karlinlippis  was  witness  to  the  charter  of 
Ewirland  to  Walter  Chepman,  Agnes  Cockburn's  husband. 
He  and  his  son  and  heir-apparent,  William,  attested  also  the 
charter  from  Andree  Elphinstoun  de  Selmys  of  his  lands  of 
le  Hill  to  John  Wardlaw  of  Ricarton  and  Isobelle  Cokburn 
his  wife,  24th  March  1527. 

After  the  death  of  William  Cockburn  of  Newhall  in 
October  1558,  John  Knox,  who  seems  to  have  interested 
himself  much  in  the  affairs  of  the  Lothian  Cockburns,  the 
Sandilands,  Creichtons,  Douglasses  of  Longniddry,  &c.,  wit- 
nessed the  contract  between  Thomas  Cockburn  of  Newhall 
and  his  brothers,  and  cousins  in  Leith,  regarding  the  pay- 
ment of  certain  legacies  to  them  and  their  sister  Beatrix,  and 
the  renunciation  by  them  to  the  Laird  of  Newhall  of  the 
office  of  executors  under  their  father's  will. 

The  Creichtons  had  not  all  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformers.  In  1572  Alexander  Creichton  of  Newhall  was 
"dilaitit  for  hering  of  the  Sacramentis  to  be  ministrat  in 
Papisticall  manner  within  his  awin  place  of  Newhall."  The 
Lugton  branch  was,  however,  strongly  attached  to  John 
Knox  and  his  teaching,  and  he  would  take  all  the  more 
interest  in  Beatrix  Cockburn  in  consequence  of  her  marriage 
to  her  kinsman,  one  of  that  family.  Her  cousin,  Beatrix 
Patrick  of  Lugton's  daughter,  was  "  the  greave  matron  "  who 
became  the  wife  of  that  distinguished  and  judicious  man, 
John  Spottiswoode,  parson  of  Calder,  a  charge  he  had  been 
induced  to  accept  by  Sir  James  Sandilands  of  Calder.  Being 
an  earnest  promoter  of  the  Reformed  religion,  he  was  chosen 
superintendant  of  the  churches  of  Lothian,  the  Merse,  and 
Teviotdale,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  performed  for 
twenty  years  with  universal  approbation,  Father  Hay  says. 

It  would  have  been  well  had  there  been  more  men  like  him 
at  that  time,  and  fewer  like  Crichton  of  Brunston,  who  is  said 


267 

to  have  signified  his  readiness  to  gratify  Henry  VIII.,  and 
compass  the  death  of  Cardinal  Beaton,  "  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  a  certain  sum  of  money  down." 

The  strange  hardness  of  character,  and  also  utter  absence 
of  appreciation  of  the  beautiful,  which  seems  to  have  come 
over  the  nation  very  generally  at  this  era,  is  evinced  in  many 
ways.  The  religious  services  were  performed  in  the  coldest 
and  least  attractive  manner  in  the  barn-like  buildings  they 
ingeniously  devised,  in  place  of  the  splendid  edifices  erected 
in  the  happier  times  of  King  David  I.  and  his  grandsons,  so 
ruthlessly  destroyed.  The  chroniclers  of  the  day  also  recorded 
the  most  dreadful  tragedies  in  the  most  matter  of  fact  manner. 
One  of  them  sets  down  that  "  Upoune  the  xxviij  day  of  March  Diurnal  of 
the  zeir  of  God  im-vc-xlvi.  zeris  thair  was  ane  general  counsalle  Occurre»ts, 
halden  in  Sanctandrois  be  the  spiritual  estate,  and  than 
George  Vischart  was  brunt,  and  na  uthir  thing  done."  It 
was  enough  for  one  day's  work  one  would  have  thought. 

Thomas  Cockburn  of  Newhall  was  surety  for  his  father-in- 
law,   Hew  Douglas  of  Borg,  in  a  matter  between  him  and  Acts  and 
James  Ramsay  of  Cockpen,  in  1560,  in  consequence  of  which  ^jy^e?1' 
Ramsay  brought  an  action  against  him.     He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  William.     In  1567  William,  Lord  HayofYester, 
was  committed  in  ward  within  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  for  Reg.  of  the 
convocatione  of  ouer  Soverain  Ladyes  legis,  and  taking  certane  VO"Y    ™?% 
comes  pertening  to  William  Cokburn  furth  of  his  lands  of 
Newhall. 

The  Cockburns  of  Newhall  placed  a  mascle  on  the  fesse 
point  between  the  three  cocks  in  their  arms,  as  in  the  above 
copy  of  Sir  David  Lindsay's  blazon. 


in.  lames    Cockburn  of    Clerkington 

was  the  third  representative  of  this  family  succes- 
sively entrusted  with  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs. 
James  III.  sent  him  as  his  special  ambassador  to 
Edward  IV.,  "  on  matters  touching  the  King's  wele 
and  suretie."  His  safe-conduct  from  the  English 
monarch  to  proceed  to  the  English  Court  and  back 

p  i 


268 

with  twelve  horsemen  was  dated  i8th    May   1470, 
and  was  to  remain  in  force  for  twelve  months. 

Like  his  father  and  grandfather,  he  is  found 
styled  both  of  Clerkingtoune  and  Newbigging.  He 
ol.  iv.,  was  Sheriff  in  that  part  of  the  constabulary  of  Had- 
dingtonwhen  sasinewas  given,  22d  September  1475, 
to  Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus,  of  the  lands  of  Temp- 
tallon,  Castletoune,  &c.  On  27th  June  1471  he 
KeS.  Gnat  attested  the  charter  of  John  Brown  of  Cummercol- 
NO/IOSS""  stoune  to  his  son  Holland,  of  the  lands  of  Litil- 
Ketelstone,  County  Linlithgow,  and  is  in  that 
document  called  of  Newbiging.  Sir  John  Swinton 
of  Swinton  also  witnessed  this  charter  from  the 
ancestor  of  the  Brouns,  Baronets  of  Colston,  whose 
progenitors,  the  le  Bruns,  had  Prestun  in  the  Merse, 
with  other  estates. 

When  he  witnessed  the  deed  of  gift  from  Alex- 
ander Barcar,  Vicar  of  Petynane,  of  some  property  in 
the  burgh  of  Haddington,  "  qua  in  honori  Dei,  et 
Sancti  Blasii  Episcopi  et  Martyris,  ac  pro  salutern 
ibid.,  NO.  animarum  Jac.  II.  et  Jac.  III.,  &c.,  concessit  ad 
sustentationem  unius  capellani  secularis  imperpetuam 
celebraturi  ad  Altare  in  ecclesia  Parochiali  B.V.M. 
de  Haddingtoune,"  he  is  designated  of  Clerkintoun. 
In  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  and  of  the  Parlia- 
ment  he  is  mentioned  sometimes  of  the  one  place 


cm,  pp.  170,   an(j  sometimes  of  the  other. 
149°-  He   was   called   of   Clerkington   when    in    1483 

Sat.P"o\'\\      decree  of  forfeiture   was    pronounced   against   him, 
PP.  155,  158.    and  he  was  proclaimed  a  rebel,  with  his  second  son 

James,  for  not  appearing  to  answer  a  summons  from 

the  Lords  of  the  Council. 

For  many  years  he  also  was   Provost  of  Edin- 

burgh.    In  1490  his  nephew,  Alexander  of  Newhall, 


269 

appeared  before  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  and  pro- 
tested, as  procurator  for  James  Cokburn  of  New- 
bigging,  that  because  "  Margrete  Lindsay  gert  Actf  Domi~ 
sumond  him  at  her  instance  for  certane  acciounis,  as  '79,  258, 3'&. 
is  contenit  in  the  sumonds,  and  would  not  oppere  to 
folow  him,"  &c.,  and  in  the  following  year  James 
himself  came  before  the  Council,  and  "  protested 
that  whatever  they  did  in  the  accioun  movit  aganis 
him  by  Margrete  Lindsay,  spous  of  patrik  Aldin- 
crawe,  anent  xx.  ky  and  oxin,  and  certane  uthir 
gudis  claimit  on  him  be  the  said  Margrete,  suld  turn 
him  to  na  prejudice."  This  dispute  was  respecting 
property  held  by  him  in  the  Merse. 

His  name  is  found  again  in  proceedings  before 
the  Council.  He  had  been  called  upon  by  William, 
Lord  of  St.  John,  Preceptor  of  Torphichen.  as  over- 
lord, for  some  moneys  claimed  by  the  Kirk  of  Had- 
dington  from  lands  and  tenements  alleged  to  have 
been  given  for  the  sustentation  of  a  certain  altar 
therein,  which  he  declared  were  "  not  mortifyit  to  ye 
said  Altare."  The  Lords  decreed  that  "  James 
Cokburn  of  Newbigging  had  done  na  wrang  in  the 
matter." 

He  married  Margaret  Giffert,  probably  the  sister 
of  his   brother's  wife,  another   daughter  of  James 
Giffert  or  Giffard  of  Schereffhal,  who  was  appointed  Reg.  Great 
Governor  of  Dalkeith  Castle  and  administrator  of  Nof'sfo.' "'' 
the  estates  of  James  Douglas,  Lord  Dalkeith,  "  quia 
fuit  incompos  mentis,"  or  it  may  be  of  his  brother- 
german  William  Giffert,  called  "avunculus"  [mother's 
brother]  of  James  Douglas,  Earl  of  Morton.     James  md.,  NO. 
Giffert,  son  of  the  above  James,  appointed  William  I45S' 
Cockburn,  son  and  heir  of  Alexander  Cockburn  of 
Langton,  with  John  de  Abernethy,  James  Huntare, 


MUm,nenta 


Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  Ap- 
pendix, pp. 
IxiiL-lxv. 


270 

and  Adam  Edgar,  his  procuratores  actores  et  factores 
in  1496.  He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  also  to 
whom  the  precept  was  addressed  by  James  III., 
requiring  them  to  summon  persons  of  inquest  on  the 
service  of  Lord  Oliphant  to  the  lands  of  Cranschaws. 
These  lands  were  claimed  by  "  Johnne  Swyntoun  of 
that  Ilk,  Knycht."  The  dispute  was  not  settled 
until  1477,  when  the  jury  summoned  upon  a  precept 
again  addressed  "dilectis  nostris  Jacobo  Cokburn 
de  Newbigging  Johanni  Hepburn,  &c.,"  gave  award 
in  favour  of  Swinton. 

Two   of    his   sons    are    mentioned,    Patrick   and 
James.    The  eldest  predeceased  him,  leaving  a  son- 


Langton 
Charters. 


iv.  &l)0mas  OTockburn  of  €lerkingtonv 

who  was  served  heir  to  his  father  and  grandfather. 
He  had  a  charter  23d  May  1498  to  Thomas,  son  of 
the  deceased  Patrick  Cockburn,  and  heir  of  the  de- 
ceased  James   Cockburn    of    Newbigging,   of    the 
Templelands  and  the  Crawmill  lying  in  the  Barony 
of   Langton,  and  the  Templeland    of   Duncanland 
lying  in  the  constabulary  of  Haddington.     He  was 
also  called  of  Newbiggyn,  when  on  the  2Oth  May 
1505  he  witnessed  a  charter  [confirmation  of  which 
was  given   under  the    Great   Seal    of  James    IV.] 
granted  by  Adam  Hepburn  of  Craggis.     Sir  John 
Sinclare    de    Hirdmanstoun,     Patrick    Hepburn    de 
N? '2870 ""     Beynstoun,  and  Andrew  Macdowell  de  Makarstoun 
also  witnessed  the  deed.     He  is  designated  of  Clark- 
ingtoune  when  on   I5th  January  1534  he  was  fined 
Pitcaim's        for  not  appearing  on  an  assize  when  his  father-in- 
voi'T  p"?69.  law>   Sir    Patrick    Hepburne   of  Waughton,    and  a 
number  of  other  Hepburns,  and  Patrick  Quhytelaw 


Reg.  Great 


271 

of  that  Ilk  [whose  wife  was  another  daughter  of  Sir 
Patrick  Hepburn]  were  ordered  to  find  sureties  to 
underlie  the  law  for  umbesetting  the  highway  to 
Gilbert  Wauchope  of  Nuddrie  -  Mareschall  for  his 
slaughter. 

Thomas  Cockburn  had  by  his  wife  Margaret 
Hepburne  a  son  Patrick,  his  heir.  He  had  the 
east  gable  of  the  ruined  Franciscan  monastery  of  St. 
Catherine  at  Haddington  given  to  him,  and  no  doubt 
found  the  stones  thereof  convenient  for  adding  to 
his  mansion  of  Clerkington. 


v.  jpatruk  dockburn   of    Clerkington, 

before  he  succeeded  to  his  father's  estate,  sold  in 
1528  a  property  called  Goslington,  in  the  Barony  of 
Stanehouse,  County  Lanark,  to  Andrew,  son  and 
heir-apparent  of  John  Hamilton  of  Newton.  NO.  687. 

On  6th  March  1541  King  James  V.  confirmed  the 
charter  from  James,  Commendator  of  St.  Andrews, 
and  Alexander  Mylne,  Abbot  of  Cambuskenneth,  to 
Patrick  Cokburn  de  Newbiggin,  and  to  his  son  and 
apparent  heir,  Patrick  Cokburn,  and  his  legitimate  MM.,  voL  Hi., 
heirs-male  ;  whom  failing,  to  his  heirs-male  whom- 
soever bearing  the  name  and  arms  of  Cokburn,  of 
the  lands  of  Clerkingtoune,  in  the  parish  of  Had- 
dingtoune,  with  its  mansion,  houses,  gardens,  &c. 
&c.  Patrick  Cokburn,  Rector  of  Petcokkis,  was  a 
witness  to  the  charter.  After  this  time  the  designa- 
tion of  Newbigging  was  no  longer  used.  Perhaps 
the  last  occasion  when  he  was  so  styled  in  any 
deed,  except  the  charter  referred  to  above,  was  on 
2oth  June  1539,  when  he  made  over  to  William 


Laing's  Cata- 
logue of 
Ancient  Seals, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  37- 


Rej.  of  the 
Privy  Seal, 
vol.  viii.,  fol. 
48. 


Pitcairn's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  143. 


272 

Cockburn  of  Choicelee  and  Margaret  Galbraith,  his 
wife,  the  Temple  lands  in  the  barony  of  Langton, 
and  mill  thereof.  To  this  charter  he  appended  his 
seal  of  arms,  bearing  "three  cocks  passant,  a  crescent 
in  fesse point."  In  1 5  28  he  had  placed  himself  in  such 
a  position  that  to  have  intercourse  with  him  was  to 
incur  the  risk  of  the  penalties  for  treason.  His  kins- 
man, William  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  obtained  re- 
mission for  intercommuning  with  him  in  that  year. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  again  in  trouble,  having 
been  concerned  in  the  raid  by  Gilbert  Wauchope 
of  Nuddry-Marischal,  accompanied  by  Sir  James 
Cockburn  of  Langton,  and  others  of  his  name, 
against  the  Edmonstones  and  their  allies.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son. 


vi.  Jpatruk  Cockburn  0f  Clerkington 

married,  it  seems,  thrice.  By  his  first  wife,  Marion, 
daughter  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling  [by 
whom  came  Lethame  and  some  other  lands  in 
Haddington  to  his  descendants],  he  had  John,  his 
heir,  and  James.  His  second  wife  is  said  to  have 
been  a  daughter  of  Houston  of  that  Ilk,  but  this 
seems  doubtful.  His  last  wife  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Danzielstoun,  who  was  for  some 
time  keeper  of  the  Palace  of  Linlithgow.  He  was 
superseded  in  1 543,  and  the  appointment  was  given 
to  Hamilton  of  Briggs.  In  1567  it  was  made  a 
heritable  office,  and  bestowed  by  Queen  Mary  upon 
Sir  Andrew  Melville  of  Murdocairney,  afterwards 
Lord  Melville. 

The  Danzielstounes  [or  Dennistouns]  were  a  very 
ancient  knightly  family  in  Renfrewshire,  descended 


273 

from  Danziel  in  the  time  of  Malcolm  IV.,  whose  lands 
of  Danziel  marched  with  the  barony  of  Houston. 

By  Elizabeth  Danzielstoune  Patrick  Cockburn 
had  a  son  Thomas,  and  a  daughter — 

AGNES,  married  to  James  Hamilton  of  Livingstone,  son 
and  heir  of  James   Hamilton  of  Kincavil,  between  whom 
and   her   father  and    mother,   the    said   Patrick   Cockburn 
and    Elizabeth    Danzielstoune,   his    spouse,   a   contract    of  Reg.  of  Deeds, 
marriage  was  agreed  to  upon  i2th  October  1563,  in  which   Scott.  Office, 
the  said  James  Hamilton  promised  to  take  the  said  Agnes  to  v° '          42^' 
his  spouse,  and  to  complete  the  bond  of  matrimony  betwixt 
that  date  and  Martinmas  next  to  come,  and  bound  himself 
to  infeft  her  for  her  life  in  the  Mains    of  Levingstone,  in 
the   sheriffdom    of  Linlithgow.      John    Cockburn,    fiar    of 
Clerkington,   and    Thomas,    her   brother-german,   witnessed 
Agnes'  marriage-contract 

The  will  of  "  Elizabeth  Danielstoune,  Lady  Clerk- 
ingtoun,  elder,"  who  survived  her  husband  several 
years,  was  rather  peculiar.  She  appointed  her  own  Edin.  Reg.  of 
son  Thomas  her  executor,  and  to  his  natural  son,  vcT^T*^' 
Thomas,  she  bequeathed  thirteen  hogs.  She  owed 
;£io  to  Robert,  son  to  John,  Laird  of  Clerkington, 
and  to  Isabell,  his  daughter,  she  left  six  ewes  ;  and 
to  Marion,  his  second  daughter,  four  wedders,  two 
pairs  of  sheets,  and  two  pairs  of  blankets  [probably 
both  were  the  productions  of  her  own  spinning 
wheel].  To  the  poor  she  left  ^20. 

Things  had  not  gone  on  quite  smoothly  always 
between  the  Hamiltons  of  Kincavil  and  the  Cock- 
burns  before  they  became  allied  by  marriage.  In 
1555  a  decreet-arbitral  was  registered  betwixt  James 
Hamilton  of  Kincavil  and  James,  his  son  and  heir-  Res-  of  Dads, 

i  i    T>         •    i     r^       i  i  r-   Scott.  Office, 

apparent,  on  the  one  part,  and  r atnck  Cockburn  01  vol.  i.,  foi.  239. 
Clerkington  and  Elizabeth  Danzielstoun,  his  spouse, 
on  the    other  part,  anent  the  lands  and  barony  of 
Ballormy,  &c.,  in  the  sheriffdom  of  Linlithgow.     Sir 


274 

Richard  Maitland  of  Lethington  was  arbiter  with 
William  Forest  for  the  Cockburns,  and  Robert 
Carmichael  and  James  Balfour,  official  of  Lothian, 
for  the  Hamiltons. 

Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington  died  6th  January 
1575,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  John. 


Notes  on  the 
Calatogut  of 
the  Lords  of 
Session,  Dal- 
rymplt  Tracts, 
pp.  4-5. 


Maitland  of 
Lethington, 
and  the  Scot- 
land of  Mary 
Stuart,  ch.  I. 


vii.  #of)n    Cockburn    of    (Ulcrkington 

married  Helen,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Sir 
Richard  Maitland  of  Lethington,  who  died  in  1585 
at  the.  age  of  ninety,  having  discharged,  as  "  an  un- 
spotted and  blameless  judge,"  his  duties  on  the  bench 
for  many  years  after  he  became  totally  blind.  He 
was  in  the  public  service  before  the  battle  of 
Flodden,  and  in  1584  "demitted  his  room  in  the 
King's  hands  in  favour  of  Sir  Lewes  Bellenden, 
being  grown  greatly  debilitated  by  age,  though  no- 
thing in  spirit  and  judgement." 

Of  this  "  worthy  knight,  baith  valiant,  grave,  and 
wise,"  who  had  served  with  unswerving  fidelity, 
James  VI.  said,  "our  grandsire,  gudsire,  grandame, 
mother,  and  ourself,"  and  of  his  ancestors,  amongst 
them  that  Sir  Richard  with  "  his  auld  beard  grey," 
who  "  set  up  his  head  and  crackit  richt  crousely  "  in 
answer  to  King  Edward's  summons  to  surrender 
his  castle,  and  held  it  triumphantly  against  him  and 
his  host,  being  left  after  a  siege  of  a  fortnight  "  haill 
and  feir  within  his  strength  of  stane,"  a  most  in- 
teresting account  is  given  in  his  "  Maitland  of 
Lethington,"  by  John  Skelton,  C.B.,  whose  pictur- 
esque description  of  "  his  gude  auld  hoose  "  and  its 
environs  surrounds  with  poetical  associations  Len- 
noxlove,  under  its  old  name  of  Lethington,  the 


275 


home  of   Helen,  who  grew  up  there  in  wild  and 
stormy  times. 

She  had  seen  as  a  child  the  enemy  do  their  best 
to  destroy  it  in  September  1549,  when  "upon  the 
1  5th  day  thereof  the  Englishmen  past  out  of  Had- 
dington  and  brunt  it  and  Leidington,  and  past  away  p-  48- 
without  any  battell,  for  the  pest  and  hungar  were 
richt  ewil  amangis  thame  quha  mycht  remayne  na 
langer  thairin." 

How  she  and  her  sister  Mary,  the  blind  old 
statesman  and  poet's  amanuensis,  would  thank  Pro- 
vidence and  feel  pride  in  the  strength  of  their  old 
grey  tower,  as  they  watched  from  behind  the  stone 
balustrade  of  its  roof  the  troops  disappearing  from 
their  sight  ! 

They  were  justified  in  their  belief  in  "  strengths 
of  stane,"  these  old  Maitlands,  by  the  results  of  the 
attempts  to  capture  them  referred  to.  Lethington 
was  as  strong  a  fortress  as  Thirlestane  on  Leader, 
which,  built  probably  by  the  de  Morevilles,  Lords 
of  Lauderdale,  and  strengthened  by  the  de  Maute- 
lants,  held  out  against  King  Edward. 

The  marriage  -contract  of  John  Cockburn  and 
Helen  Maitland  was  dated  3Oth  September  1560. 
It  was  therein  agreed  "  betwixt  Sir  Richert  Mait- 
land of  Lettington,  Knight,  and  Helen  Maitland, 
his  lawful  daughter,  on  the  one  part,  and  Patrick 
Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  and  John,  his  son  and 
apparent  heir,  on  the  other  part,  that  the  said  John 
promises  to  marry  and  take  to  wife  the  said  Helen  Re^  0fDeed,t 
Maitland,  and  the  foresaid  Patrick  Cockburn  binds  Sc.ott-  9f?ce> 

vol.  3,  fol. 

himself  to  infeft   the  said    Helen  in   the  lands  of  4». 
Hawthornsyke,  in    security  of  an    annuity   of    100 
merks  and  2  chalders  of  victual  out  of  the  lands  of 


276 

Clerkington."      On    8th    November    1560    Patrick 
Cockburn  gave  "  discharge  to   Richert  Maitland  of 
Lettinton,    Knight,    for   the   sum    of   four   hundred 
pounds  for  the  first  part  of  the  '  tocher  gude  '  pro- 
Xtg.  of  Deeds,   mised  by  him  for  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  Helen 
voM,^'    Maitland  with  John    Cockburn,  son  and  apparent 
**'  heir  of  said    Patrick."     Sir  Alexander  Henderson, 

chaplane-notary,  witnessed  this  document  with  James 
Cockburn,  Patrick's  second  son.  On  the  gth  July 
1583  an  agreement  was  made  between  Thomas 
Fawsyde  of  that  Ilk,  and  Sarah,  his  daughter,  on  the 
one  part,  and  John  Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  Helen 
Maitland,  his  spouse,  and  Mr.  Richard,  their  son,  on 
the  other  part,  whereby,  for  the  sum  of  1000  merks, 
ibid.,  voL  21,  paid  by  the  said  Thomas  for  himself  and  in  name  of 
foL  193.  j^  sajj  Daughter  Sarah,  they  had  infeftment  of  an 
annual  rent  of  100  merks  out  of  the  lands  and  mains 
of  Clerkington.  This  representative  of  the  old 
family  of  Fawside  appears  to  have  got  good  interest 
for  his  money,  as  the  number  of  years  for  which  he 
was  to  have  the  10  per  cent,  is  not  stated.  The 
Laird  of  Clerkington  appears  to  have  often  been 
ibid.,  vol.  37,  in  want  of  money.  On  the  22d  February  1590  he 
made  a  contract  with  William,  Lord  Livingstone, 
and  his  son  George  Livingstone,  whereby  he  and 
his  son  and  apparent  heir,  Richard,  agreed  "  for  the 
sum  of  2000  merks  to  infeft  the  said  noble  Lord 
and  his  said  son  in  the  superiority  of  the  lands  of 
Ogilface,  viz.,  Woodquarter,  Gartmoir,  &c.,  in  the 
Regality  of  Holyrood  -  house  and  Sheriffdom  of 
Linlithgow."  This  was  a  very  ancient  possession 
of  the  ancestors  of  the  family  of  Clerkington,  having 
come  to  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton 
amongst  the  estates  he  acquired  by  his  marriage 


277 

with  the  heiress  of  the  de  Veteri-Pontes.  William 
de  Veteri-Ponte  gave  the  rents  of  Okelffas  in  1 1 70 
to  the  monastery  of  Holyrood,  or  as  then  designated, 
"  Ecclesia  de  Sancti  Crucis  de  Castell  Puellarum." 
Payment  of  the  2000  marks  was  received  on  the 
same  day  from  William,  Lord  Livingstone.  He 
had  also,  with  consent  of  Helen  Maitland,  his  wife, 
and  Richard,  his  eldest  son,  granted  an  annual  rent 
of  ^100  furth  of  Clerkington  to  John  Hucheson, 
merchant  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  which  was  dis- 
charged, however,  in  1588.  John  Cockburn  of 
Clerkington's  name  was  appended  to  the  bond, 
along  with  those  of  the  Earls  of  Mar,  Gowrie,  Glen- 
cairn,  March,  Both  well,  the  Lords  Home,  Lindsay, 
and  Boyd,  the  Bishop  of  Orkney,  the  Abbots  of 
Cambuskenneth  and  of  Dumbarton,  and  Ker  of 
Fawdonside  [whose  son  married  John  Knox's 
widow],  in  which  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  origi- 
nated. By  his  wife  Helen  Maitland,  "  Sir  John,"  as 
he  is  styled  by  Sir  Robert  Douglas,  had,  besides 
Richard  his  heir,  Robert  and  John,  and  two 
daughters,  Helen  and  Jean. 

ROBERT  COCKBURN,  the  second  son,  was  an  advo- 
cate in  Edinburgh,  and  was  not  an  unimportant  person  in 
his  time.  He  seems  to  have  been  behind  the  scenes,  and 
acquainted  with  the  policy  of  the  principal  actors  of  the  day, 
several  of  whom  were  his  near  relatives.  He  was  evidently, 
from  the  subjoined  letter,  a  trusted  friend  of  Thomas  Hudson, 
which  is  a  strong  point  in  his  favour,  and  an  evidence  that 
he  inherited  the  amiable  characteristics  of  his  grandfather, 
Sir  Richard  Maitland. 

"  GOOD  Mr.  HUDSON — Altho'  the  intermitted  intelligence  From  the 

betwixt  the  two  princes  gives  occasion  to  inferiors  of  little  A,^t't°^?1...  , 
,  .,11  i         alS&,  atiitsa 

correspondence,  yet  could  I  not  omit  hereby  to  let  you  under-  Museum. 


278 

stand  something  concerning  yourself  that  His  Majesty,  upon 
some  true  advertisement  made  by  you  to  one  of  your  friends 
here,  thinks  so  well  of  you,  as  yourself  or  best  affected  friends 
can  wish,  wherein  you  have  done  wisely  and  honestly,  and  will 
receive  the  fruit  [which]  can  be  expected  to  arise  thereof. 
For  your  advertisement  to  my  Lord  Chancellor,  my  uncle, 
you  are  to  receive  thanks  by  his  own  letter ;  who,  continuing 
of  that  disposition  always  he  is  described  to  be  of  by  you, 
will  be  found  toward  yourself  without  change  or  alteration  in 
any  sort ;  which  good  opinion  of  you  both  in  his  Majesty 
and  kin  shall  be  nourished  and  increased  by  me  at  all 
occasions. 

"  The  particular  state  of  this  our  Court  and  ever-troubled 
State  is  so  frequently  advertised  to  you  there  by  our  intelli- 
gencers, as  it  will  be  superfluous  to  write  the  same.  You 
know,  according  to  your  custom,  that  parties  of  greatest  credit 
amongst  us  are  .  .  .  and  entertained  by  you  so  long  as 
the  King's  favour  continues,  which,  diminishing  or  declining, 
the  sequel  is  known.  But  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy  I  must 
be  excused  to  say  thus  far,  which  will  be  found  true,  that 
whensoever  the  party  contradictor  to  my  uncle  prevails, 
whereof  there  is  no  likelihood,  neither  their  virtues  nor 
honesty  will  be  answerable  to  their  present  profession,  and  in 
the  change  you  shall  have  the  worst,  and  no  such  offices  done 
gratis  as  has  been  performed  heretofore,  and  peradventure 
not  escape  colbenizing  and  crosnoye,  as  well-known  and 
detected  here  as,  if  you  please,  may  be  decyphered  there. 

"  Whenever  any  comes  here  for  the  receipt  of  the  annuity, 
your  assignation  shall  be  remembered  with  the  first.  In  the 
meantime,  as  you  can  try  how  that  suit  will  be  heard,  and 
what  sum,  in  your  opinion,  will  be  received.  Upon  the 
advertisement,  the  Messenger,  I  think,  no  Embassador  shall 
be  hasted. 

"  Being  desired  to  recommend  this  Bearer  in  that  long 
process  there,  wherein  his  cousin  Archibald  spendeth  much 
time,  I  hope  he  shall  find  your  good  furtherance,  the  rather 
for  this  my  interponed  request.  And  so  till  new  occasion, 
after  my  very  hearty  commendations  recommended,  I  leave 
you  to  God's  protection.  From  Edinburgh,  2  ad  of  May 
JSPS-— Yours  always  assured,  R.  COCKBURNE. 

"  If  Mr.  Montgomery  insist,  as  I  am  advertised  he  doth 


279 


insist,  I  will  request  you  very  earnestly  that  he  may  find  favour 
in  procuring  of  the  same,  especially  that  Sir  Robert  Cecil, 
now,  as  I  hear,  Secretary,  to  whom  I  congratulate  for  that 
office,  may  be  remembered  of  my  interponed  request  for 
him." 

Robert  Cockburn  is  generally  styled  of  Buttirdene,  the 
old  possession  of  ,the  Ellem  family,  in  the  parish  of  Oldham- 
stocks,  County  Berwick.  He  was  co-executor  of  the  will  of 
"  Barbara  Cockburn,  Lady  Preston,"  widow  of  George 
Hamilton  of  Preston,  whose  sister,  Marie  Hamilton,  was  his 
own  wife.  He  died  in  July  1614,  appointing  her  "tutrix  to 
their  children,  Barbara,  Jeane,  Heleine,  Marie,  Elizabeth,  and 
Rachel  Cockburnes,  his  lawful  bairns,  and  Robert  Cockburn, 
their  only  son."  His  brother  John  and  brother-in-law  Robert 
Hamilton  were  named  tutors,  "  to  use  that  office  by  the 
advice  of  the  Lord  Privy  Seal,  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of 
Clerkington.  His  son  Robert  was  served  heir  in  the  lands  of 
Buttirdene,  commonly  called  Townrig,  3d  May  1627.  He  is 
designated  indweller  in  Preston  in  various  deeds.  On  2ist 
February  1655  his  sister  Helen  had  sasine  on  charter  by  John 
Hamilton  of  Easter  Fawsyde,  her  husband,  of  an  annual  rent 
out  of  the  said  lands.  Alexander  Cockburn,  also  designated 
indweller  in  Prestoune,  witnessed  this  deed. 

HELEN,  eldest  daughter  of  John  Cockburn  and  Helen 
Maitland,  married  Patrick  Hepburne  of  Beanstoun.  She  died 
in  1603. 


JEANE  married  Sir  John  Hamilton  of  Preston,   in  the  Commits,  of 

parish   of   Prestonpans.     She   died   2oth   September    1619.  Edinburgh 

David  Lindsay,  brother  of  the  terrible  Alexander  of  Dunrod,  v^taf"nts' 
was  cautioner  named  in  her  will.     Her  husband,  Sir  John 
Hamilton,  as  principal,  and  Sir  Johnne  Wallace  of  Carnell, 

as  suretie  in  ^2000,  were  bound  that  the  said  John  should  Keg.  of  the 

not  harm  Barbara,  relict  of  George  Hamilton  of  Preston,  Privy  Council, 

.  .      ,  vol.  iii.,  p.  712. 

above  noticed. 


Commiss.  of 
Edinburgh 
Testaments, 
vol.  48. 


Inquisit. 

Return. 

Abbrev., 

County 

Berwick, 

x.,  4. 

Part.  Reg. 
of  Sasines, 
County  Edin- 
burgh, vol.  2, 
fol.  329. 


John  Cockburn  of  Clerkington  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son,  Richard. 


280 


Diary  of 
Robert  Birrel, 
P- 37- 


Funeral  Escutcheon  of  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of  Clarkintoun, 
Lyon  Office. 

viii.  Sir  Bicljarb  tftockburit  of  Clerk- 

was  a  very  prominent  personage  in  his  day. 
He  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  was  advanced  to  the 
Bench  in  1591.  On  the  resignation  in  that  year  of 
his  uncle,  Sir  John  Maitland,  he  was  appointed  his 
successor  as  Secretary  of  State  for  Scotland,  but 
after  a  time  was  compelled  to  exchange  this  high 
office  for  that  of  Privy  Seal  with  Lindsay  of  Bal- 
carres,  one  of  the  "aught  Lordis  appointed  I2th 
January  1596  for  heiring  of  the  checker  comptis,  and 
taking  order  with  the  enormities  and  disorders  in  yis 
countrie.  These  Lordis,  all  callet  Octavians,  were 
Alexander  Seytoun  of  Pluscartie,  Walter  Stewart  of 
Blantyre,  Mr.  Johne  Lindsay,  Mr.  Thomas  Hamil- 
ton, Mr.  James  Elphinstone,  Mr.  John  Skeine,  Mr. 
James  Craigie  of  Killatie,  and  Mr.  Peter  Zoung  of 


28l 

Seytoun."  These  Commissioners  were  no  doubt 
well  chosen,  being  all  men  of  known  ability  and 
prominent  as  lawyers.  They  were  invested  with 
most  ample — indeed  with  almost  unlimited — powers, 
and  had  the  right  to  fill  up  vacancies  in  the  public 
departments.  As  might  be  expected,  many  of  the 
most  important  and  lucrative  ones  were  ere  long 
appropriated  by  them. 

Sir  Richard  Cockburn  married  his  kinswoman, 
Margaret,  daughter  of  William  Cockburn  of  Lang- 
ton,  and  was  named  as  heir  to  the  estates,  failing  his 
brother-in-law's  descendants,  together  with  the  office 
of  Hereditary  Usher  attached  to  Langton  barony, 
also  in  the  charter  of  Symprim  from  Sir  George  Rtg.  Great 
Home  of  Manderston.  He  died  in  1627.  Perhaps  •SVa/>Ub-5' 
his  death  was  hastened  by  disappointments.  In  the 
beginning  of  that  year  he  was  forced  to  resign  his 
seat  on  the  bench  of  Judges,  Charles  I.  having 
ordered  that  no  peer  of  the  realm  or  high  officer  of 
State  should  sit  as  a  Lord  of  Session.  His  will 
was  proved  7th  May  1628  by  his  widow,  "Dame  Edin.Rcg.of 
Margaret  Cockburn,  in  the  name  of  their  son  Patrick, 
a  minor,  executor-dative  to  his  deceased  father." 
Robert  Cockburn  of  Blackismylne  was  cautioner. 
This  Robert  was  his  wife's  uncle,  being  Sir  James  of 
Langton's  ninth  son. 

Sir  Richard,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  was  constantly,  as 
might  be  supposed  from  his  position  and  legal 
knowledge,  employed  to  settle  any  troublesome 
family  affairs,  and  the  trustees  of  many  minors  of 
the  different  branches,  who  were  nearly  related,  had 
to  act  under  his  advice — Hamiltons  and  Maitlands, 
as  well  as  Cockburns.  On  ist  June  1588  he  had 
rather  a  disagreeable  matter  to  settle  for  his  cousin 


282 

James,  as  appears  by  a  deed  executed  at  Holyrood 
on  the  28th  October  1587,  in  which  it  was  set  forth 
that    "a  contract  had   been    made  between   James 
Maitland,  son    and    heir   to    the  deceased   William 
Maitland,    secretary  to    our   sovereign    Lord,    with 
consent  of  his  curators,   on  the  one  part,    and   Mr. 
Reg.  of  Deeds,    Richard  Cockburn,  son  and  apparent  heir  to  John 
voi0t28?for'    Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  on  the  other  part,  anent 
335-  the  gift   of  the   marriage   of  the   said  James  with 

Annabell  Bellenden,  sister  lawful  to  Sir  Lewes  Bel- 
lenden  of  Auchinoule  Knight,  Justice-Clerk  :" — he 
married  Margaret,  the  brave  sister  of  Mary  Fleming, 
one  of  Mary  Stuart's  four  Maries,  who  was  the  wife 
of  the  Secretary  Maitland.  They  were  grand- 
daughters of  James  IV.  No  doubt  the  affection 
subsisting  between  the  Queen  and  her  friend  from 
childhood  had  much  influence  upon  the  actions  of 
the  astute  Maitland  of  Lethington. — •"  His  marriage 
with  the  aforesaid  Annabell,  the  said  James  being 
unwilling  to  complete,  the  said  Mr.  Richard  Cock- 
burn  for  the  sum  of  ^8000  dispones  the  said  letter 
of  gift  in  favour  of  the  said  James  Maitland,  and  is 
infeft  in  security  thereof  in  the  lands  and  town  of 
Darnwick  and  others,  in  the  regality  of  Melrose." 

Sir  Richard  and  Margaret  Cockburn  had  a 
daughter  Margaret,  who  married  Sir  Alexander 
Murray,  second  Baronet  of  Blackbarony,  Sheriff  of 
Peeblesshire.  Their  daughter  Margaret  married 
Sir  John  Gilmour  of  Craigmillar,  Lord  President  of 
the  Court  of  Session,  who  was  made  a  Baronet. 

The  Right  Honourable  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of 
Clerkington,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  was  buried  at  Had- 
dington,  23d  October  1627. 


283 

ix.  Patrick   Olockburn    of   €lerkington 

was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  Sir   Richard    nth 
December  1628,  and  had  the  lands  of  Clerkington, 

z»  / 

with  those  of  Wittoun  or  Winton,  Milnehill,  Brown-  Abb™. 
field,    and    Lethame,    erected    into    the    Barony   of 
Clerkington.  *-,  i32- 

He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  James,  Master 
of  Cranstoun  [eldest  son  of  the  first  Lord  Cranstoun] 
by  his  wife  Elizabeth  Stewart,  daughter  of  Francis, 
created  1587  Earl  of  Both  well,  who  proved  subse- 
quently such  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  James  VI. 

By  her  he  had  two  sons,  Richard  and  James.  To 
his  eldest  son  he  gave  sasine,  i3th  October  1656,  of 
the  estate  of  Clerkington,  "possessed  formerly  by 
William  Cockburn  of  Skirling  and  Dame  Margaret 
Cockburn,  his  mother  [his  trustees],  reserving  to 
himself,  his  said  mother  Margaret,  and  to  Margaret  Part.  Reg. 
Cranstoun,  his  spouse,  their  several  liferents  and 


interests  in  the  said  lands."  turs'?>  ™i. 

4,  fol.  367. 

Patrick  Cockburn  had  sasine  nth  August  1655, 
"  on  precept  of  dare  constat  from  Mary,  Countess  of 
Buccleuch,  of  the  lands  of  Hawthornside,  in  the 
regality  of  Dalkeith,  in  which  his  father  Sir  ibid.,  vol.  3. 
Richard  died  vest  and  seased,  in  conjunct-fee  with 
Dame  Margaret,  Lady  Clerkingtoune,  his  spouse." 
This  was  the  estate  excambed  in  1460  for  the  forest 
of  Dyy  by  his  ancestor  Patrick  of  Newbiging  and 
Clerkington. 

JAMKS,  his  second  son,  was  a  goldsmith  and  banker  in 
Edinburgh.  He  is  mentioned  as  resident  at  Clerkington  in 
1666,  and  was  for  some  time  Provost  of  Haddingtoun.  He 
married  first  Margaret,  eldest  daughter  of  George  Cockburn 
of  Piltoun  [son  of  Sir  George  of  Ormislon],  and  had  charter 
of  Little  Monckton  from  the  Earl  of  Lauderdale  in  1696. 
R  I 


Part.  Reg.  of 
Sasints, 

t«rgh\oL  " 
48,  Col.  83. 


284 

He  appears  to  have  acquired  considerable  property.  From 
James,  Marquis  of  Douglas,  he  had  an  annual  rent-charge  of 
3°°°  merks  out  of  the  Tantallon  lands.  In  1697  he  had  for 
himself  infeftment  for  life  in  the  lands  of  Burnhouses,  in  the 
parish  of  Spot,  purchased  by  him  for  ;£  10,000,  and  to  go  to 
his  eldest  son  in  fee.  He  married,  secondly,  Magdalen 
Scot,  and  had  a  large  family. 

Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington  was  succeeded 
by  his  eldest  son— 


Part, 


s,  vol. 
18,  foi.  72. 


x.  Hicljaro  Cockburn  of  Chrkington, 

who  married  Jean,  second  daughter  of  John  Cock- 
burn  of  Ormiston.  By  their  marriage  -contract, 
dated  nth  November  1670,  "made  with  the  con- 
sent of  his  curators  on  the  one  part,  and  advice  of 
her  friends  on  the  other  part,  Jeane  was  infefted 
in  the  estate  of  Lethame,  County  Haddington, 
securing  to  his  mother  Margaret  Cranstoun,  Lady 
Clerkington,  her  liferent  of  the  lands  and  Maynes 
of  Lethame,  which  property  was  originally  granted 
to  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton  in  1367.  He 

County  Edin-  had  also  sasine,  27th  December  1671,  "on  precept 
from  James  Douglas,  chaplain  of  St.  Anne's  chappell 
in  Haddington,  of  the  lands  called  St.  Ann's 

ibid,  vol.  23,  Chappell;"  and  on  28th  April  1674  new  infeftment 
in  Hawthornsyde  from  James  and  Anne,  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  and  renewed  charter  of 
Clerkington  under  the  Great  Seal  26th  July  1680 

T>      i  •          -r      T  /-      i  i  i        i       i      • 

By  his  wile  Jeane  Cockburn  he  had  six  sons,  as 
appears  by  his  disposition  of  Clerkington  Barony, 
dated   I4th   February  1689,  upon  which   his  eldest 
01'  45.    son,  Patrick,  had  sasine  2Qth  July  following.    Failing 
him  and  his  heirs,  it  was  to  go  to  John,  his  second, 


/<w.,voi. 

32,  fol.  216. 


Richard  third,  William  fourth,  Charles  fifth,  and 
Archibald  his  sixth  lawful  son,  and  their  heirs  in 
succession. 

John  and  Richard  died  young ;  William,  the  fourth 
son,  was  father  of  Richard,  who  succeeded  his  uncle 
Patrick  in  the  estates.  Besides  these  six  sons,  they 
had  also  a  daughter  Margaret,  who  married  25th  Marriages. 
February  1698  Gideon  Murray,  of  the  family  of 
Elibank,  a  merchant  of  Edinburgh.  Her  will  was 
registered  27th  January  1714. 


xi.  Patrick  €ockburn   of  ^lerkington 

had  sasine  on  the  disposition  from  his  father  above 
noticed  of  the  lands  and  barony  of  Clerkington, 
2gth  July  1689  ;  also  of  an  annuity  out  of  the  lands 
of  Kirkton,  resigned  in  his  favour  by  William 
Gourlay  of  Kincraig.  Dying  unmarried,  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  nephew — 


xii.  Htdiaro  OLockburn  of  tUlerkington, 

who  obtained  a  novodamus  of  that  barony  under 
the  Great  Seal  dated  gth  January  1717.  He  got 
from  Sir  George  Seton  renunciation  of  an  annual  Part.  Reg. 

'  i  •  r     i  j    of  Sasincs, 

rent-charge,  payable  to  him  out  of  that  estate  and  voi.  50,  foi. 
Hookstone,    15th    July   1692;  also  a  similar    relief129' 
relief  from  Sir  Robert  Hay  of  Linplum,  which  had 
been  assigned  to  him  by  his  sister  Mary,  wife  of  Sir 
James    Kinloch,    Baronet  of  Gilmerton,  and  other  fUJ., ,  vol. 
heirs  of  Sir  James  Rochead,  Baronet  of  Inverleith,   '3  ' 
to  whom  he  had  become  largely  indebted,  as  well  as 
to    Francis     Charteris    of    Amisfield.     The    latter 


236 

Part.  Reg.       charge   was   redeemed    with    consent   of    his    wife, 

SoLtJjr        Henrietta  Alves,  who  may  have  had  money  of  her 

foL  423-         own>  which  enabled  him  to  do  this.     Possibly  James 

Cockburn,   his  wealthy  kinsman,   the  goldsmith   of 

Edinburgh  who  witnessed  the  deed   of  relief  from 

o 

Sir  George  Seton,  may  have  assisted  him  in  these 
matters.     He  was  succeeded  by  his  son — 


xiii.  jpatrick  €ockburn  of  Clcrkington, 

who  married  Jean,  daughter  of  Joseph  Williamson 
of  Foxhall,  advocate,  upon  whom  he  settled  an 
annuity  out  of  Clerkington.  The  relief  his  father 
had  obtained  from  the  burdens  upon  the  estate  did 
not  enable  him  to  keep  it.  On  24th  April  1766 
Clerkington  was  lost  to  the  Cockburns,  as  Langton 
and  Ormiston  were  about  the  same  time.  Patrick 
ibid  vol.  disponed  to  his  father-in-law,  "Joseph  Williamson, 
138,  foi.  335-  and  Agnes  Luke,  his  wife,  in  liferent,  and  to  their 
eldest  son,  John  Williamson,  in  fee,  heritably  and 
irredeemably,  All  and  Whole  the  lands  and  barony  of 
Clerkington,  with  the  mansion-house,  seat  in  parish 
church  of  Haddington,  burial-place  there,"  &c. 

Thus  ended  the  House  of  Clerkington.  The 
very  bones  of  its  ancestors  became  the  property  of 
the  owner  of  Foxhall. 

The  Cockburns  of  Clerkington  bore — argent,  a 
crescent  azure  between  three  cocks  gules.  Although 
the  crescent  does  not  appear  on  the  blazon  in  Sir 
David  Lindsay's  Armorial,  it  does  upon  the  seal  of 
Patrick  of  Clarkintoun  and  Newbigging  in  1539. 
Lindsay's  The  coat  of  Clerkington  is  one  of  the  smaller  shields 
interpolated  between  the  four  large  ones  of  Cock- 


p.  IOI. 


287 

burns,    so    may    have    been    added    subsequently. 
Their  crest  was  a  lions  head  erased,  crowned  with 
an  antique  crown,  and  their  motto  the  old  Langton 
one,  Peradventur.     Sir  Richard  Cockburn,  Secretary 
of  State,  changed    it,   and   adopted    for   his    motto 
Vigili  aucta,  with  an  otter  s  head  couped  for  crest. 
In    the    Illuminated     Heraldic    MS.    called  Work- 
man's, Sir  Richard  is  given  supporters — a  swan  and 
a  lion  gardant,  gules,  collared.     These  must  have  stodart's 
been  added  after  the  date  of  the  original  work,  A.D.  Voi.  a.,  p.  2152! 
1565,   as    his   father   and  mother    Helen    Maitland 
were    only   married    in    1560.       Upon    his    funeral 
escutcheon  were  depicted  different  supporters — the 
dexter  "a  foule  lyke  unto  a  cran;"  and  sinister,  an 
otter.     These  ornaments,  although  allowed  to  him 
as  holder   of  a   high    office,    are    not   recorded   as 
granted   to  the   family  in    the  books   of  the   Lyon 
Office  any  more  than  to  the  descendants  of  his  con- 
temporary   Sir    John    Cockburn    of    Ormiston,    the 
Justice-Clerk,  who  assumed  the  lions  of  Langton. 
His  great-great-grandson,   Adam,    Lord   Ormiston, 
who  held  the  same  high  appointment,  registered  his 
arms  in  the  Lyon  Office  without  supporters. 


COCKBURN    OF  CHOICELEE, 

BERWICKSHIRE. 


i.  dlljristopljer  Cockburn,  youngest  son  of 

Alexander,  Baron  of  Langton,  by  his  first  wife, 
Elizabeth  Crichton,  was  the  first  of  this  branch, 
which  maintained  a  considerable  position  in  the 
Merse  from  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  to  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  making  good 
matrimonial  alliances,  so  far  as  family  connection 
was  concerned,  but  not  with  heiresses.  It  was 
not  therefore  in  the  catalogue  of  Cockburns  whose 
estates  came  by  fortunate  matches,  and  went  by 
debt,  or  too  generous  subdivision  amongst  their 
numerous  offspring. 

Christopher  got  the  lands  of  Chausly  or  Choicelee, 
which  lay  close  to  Langton,  and  he  and  his  descend- 
ants took  designation  therefrom,  holding  this  estate, 
however,  as  well  as  others,  which  they  acquired 
from  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Newbigging,  not  as  lairds, 
but  vassals,  or  rather  "kyndlie  native  tennantis;" 
so  the  appellation  of  "  Gudeman "  of  Chouslee  is 


289 

usually  found  applied  to  the  representative  in  deeds. 
The  family  possessed  other  lands  in  the  county 
in  fee. 

Christopher  married  Elizabeth,  a  lady  of  the  old 
family  of  Ellem.      She  was  probably  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth   Ellem.     John  had  charter  on 
his  father  Richard's  resignation  in  his  favour  of  the 
lands  of  Chirnside,  Duns,  and  Buttirdene  in   1489.  Reg.  Gnat 
In  this  same  year  George  Ellem  had  new  charter  of  NO.  '1831."'' 
Buttirdene,  forfeited   by  his  father   John,   for  trea- 
sonably   holding    the    Castle    of    Dunbar    against  ibid.,  NO. 
James  III. 

Buttirdene  afterwards  passed  to  Cockburns  ;  Bas- 
sindene,  another  of  their  properties,  to  the  Homes 
by  an  heiress  of  the  family. 

Christopher  had  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  five  sons 
—  William,  Adam,  Christopher,  Ninian,  and  George. 
Adam  had  the  gift  of  the  non-entry  of  Upsettlington  R<g-  f™y 

1-11  •  1  TVT  111  •  Seal>  XV.,   fol. 

in  1541,  which  place  in  the  Merse  had  been  given  to  30. 
his  nephew,  William  de  Awdincraw,  by  Alexander 
Benyston  of  that  Ilk. 


ii.  William    Olockburn    of 

witnessed,  iyth  July  1535,  along  with  Ninian  his 
brother,  and  Ninian  Ellem,  the  charter  of  Alex- 
ander Ellem  of  Buttirdene,  of  half  his  lands  "  infra  Rtg.  Great 
villam  et  territoriam  de  Hirsell  vie  Berwick,"  which 
he  had  sold  to  "  Isobelle  Hume,  Prioress  of  Cauld- 
streme."  On  3ist  December  1551  he  attested  the 
letter  of  Janet  Hoppringle,  who  had  succeeded  as 
Prioress  of  that  nunnery,  "to  her  traist  and  well- 
belovit  friend  Alexander,  Lord  Hume,"  in  which  she 
set  forth  "  that  understanding  that  it  is  verray 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  1709. 


Pitcairn's 
Crim.  Trials, 
vol.  i.,  p.  273. 


Keg.  of  Deeds, 
Scott.  Office, 
vol.  i.,  fol. 
115. 


290 

necessar  for  the  common  weill  and  proffeit  of  the 
said  abbay  and  convent,  and  of  thair  tennentis,  in- 
habitants of  all  and  sindrie  the  landis  annexit  to  the 
said  abbay,  Hand  within  quhatsumevir  sherefdome, 
to  have  ane  baillie  that  will  accept  the  cuir  and 
gyding  of  the  said  inhabitantis,  and  ministratioune 
of  justice  upon  thame,  baith  in  tymes  of  pece  and 
weir,  and  becaus  the  said  priores,  &c.  eftir  the  ripe 
advisement,  lang  deliberatioun,  fyndis  na  man  mair 
abill  ganand  nor  convenient  to  exerce  the  office  of 
bailliarie  of  the  samyn,  she  makes  the  said  Lord  and 
his  airis  heretable  baillis  of  all  and  sindrie  landis  per- 
tening  to  the  said  abbay,  together  with  the  maurent, 
service,  and  homage  of  the  tennentis,  inhabitantis, 
&c."  Confirmation  under  the  Great  Seal  of  Henry 
and  Mary  was  given  I5th  February  1566.  Amongst 
other  charges  was  "all  and  haill  the  ane  half  of  the 
fischeing  of  Litill-Haugh,  in  the  Lordship  of  Cauld- 
streme." 

William  Cockburn  of  Chausley  was  reported  2Qth 
January  1539  as  having  "come  under  the  Kingis  will," 
for  allowing  William  Pott,  an  Englishman,  to  escape. 
He  and  his  kinsman,  the  Baron  of  Langton,  got  on 
somewhat  uncomfortably  for  such  near  neighbours. 
On  the  7th  March  1554  James  Cockburn  of  Langton 
granted  discharge  to  William  Cockburn  of  Schouslie 
of  an  action  against  the  said  William  "  for  spoliation 
of  1 6  oxin,  1 8  ky,  and  30  yowis,"  and  William  in 
like  manner  withdrew  his  action  against  James  "  for 
spulzie  of  1 6  oxin  and  80  sheep  on  the  7th  February 
preceding.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Robert  Galbraith,  who  possessed  Easter  Winschelis, 
County  Berwick,  in  1528.  They  had  joint  sasine, 
2oth  June  1539,  of  the  Templelands  and  Myrside  in 


291 

Whitsun  from  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Newbigging  and 
Clerkington.     These   lands,   once  belonging  to  the 
Knights    Templars,   came    by  the  marriage  of  Sir 
Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton  to  Marjorie  Hep- 
burne,  the  heiress  thereof,  about  1420.     William  of 
Choicelee  had  by  his  wife  Margaret,  James,  his  heir, 
Alexander,  and  Patrick.     He  died  on  3ist  March 
1571,  and  his  will  was  recorded   ist  May  1574,  and 
was  witnessed  by  his  second  son,  Alexander,  then 
styled  of  Caldra.     The  youngest  son,  Patrick,  was 
rector   of  Petcokkis.     He   gave   some   lands    near 
Dunbar    and    Chirneside    to    his    brother-german, 
Alexander,    and    Alison    Vaus,    his    wife,    in    1568. 
Caldra  or  Cadra  was  a  small  estate  in  the  parish  of 
Fogo,  which  belonged  to  the  Sinclairs  of  Longfor- 
macus.     It  was  settled  in   1558  by  Matthew  Sinclair 
upon  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Swinton 
of  Swinton.     Alexander,  the  second  son,   called  of 
Caldra,  had  by  his  wife  Alison  Vaus,  Patrick,  James, 
John,  and  Mark,  also  one  daughter,  Catherine.     The 
eldest  was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  9th  July  1601. 
Amongst  those  present  at  the  inquest  held  before 
Robert  Cockburn  of  Blackismylne,  Sheriff-depute  of 
Berwickshire,  22d  July   1630,  when  John  Swyntoun 
of  that  Ilk  was  served  heir  to  his  great-grandfather's 
great-grandfather,  Sir  John  Swyntoun  of  Swyntoun, 
was    Patricius   Cockburne  de   Cadra.      He  died  in 
1642,  and  his  son  William  was  retoured  his  heir  6th 
July   1643.     Dying  soon  after  unmarried,  the  pro- 
perty was  inherited  by  his  kinsman,  John,  son  of 
William  Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  to  be  referred  to 
presently. 


Edin.  Reg.  of 
Testaments, 
vol.  3. 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  2979. 


Ibid.,  No. 
1301. 

Edin.  Reg.  of 
Testaments, 
vol.  33. 


Inqiiisit. 
Retorn., 
Abbrev., 
County  Ber- 
wick, ii.  152. 

Swintons  of 
that  Ilk, 
Appendix, 
pp.  clxxix.- 
clxxx. 


Inquisit. 
Retorn. 
Abbrev., 
County  Ber- 
wick, xvii. ,  36 


S   I 


vi 


in.  3amcs   <£ockburn   of  <)oceec  was 

served  heir  to  his  father  William  in  "  Schouslie  " 
23d  November  1574.  He  died  at  Dalkeith  22d 
July  1586.  The  inventory  of  his  effects  was  given 
in  28th  October  in  the  following  year  by  his  wife, 
"  Marioun,  guidwyffe  of  Schouslie,"  who  was  the 
daughter  of  John  Douglas,  baillie  of  Langton,  who 
appears  to  have  been  placed  in  that  position  during 
Morton's  regency.  He  was  brother  of  that  Hew 
.  Jfeg.  of  Douglas  of  Longniddry  who  married  Marion, 
"'  daughter  of  William  Cockburn  of  Ormiston.  His 
own  wife,  Katherine,  was  the  daughter  of  John  Cock- 
burn  in  Chapelcleuche.  These  constantly  recurring 
connections  betwixt  the  Cockburns  themselves,  as 
well  as  the  frequent  alliances  between  them  and  the 
Sinclairs,  Homes,  and  Hepburnes,  kept  the  various 
branches  pretty  closely  related.  The  Houses  of 
Ormiston  and  Skirling,  as  well  as  the  cadets  estab- 
lished at  Tempillhall,  &c.,  in  the  county  of  Had- 
dington,  were  also  allied  by  marriage  to  the 
Douglasses  of  Borg  and  Longniddry. 

The  will  of  "  ane  honorabill  man,  James  Cokburn 
of  Schouslie,"    was  dated    at    Langton    soth    May 
jtid.,\o\.        1586.     He  appointed  his  wife  "  Marioun,"  whom  he 
well  knew   was  able  to   protect  their  rights,    "  sole 
tutrix  to  their  children,  William,  Alexander,  James, 
Cristell  [Christopher],   John,  Janet,    and    Margaret 
Cockburnes,  and  also  executrix  and  intromissatrix." 
The  eldest  son,  William,  succeeded  him  in  his  lands. 
Margaret,   the   second  daughter,   married   in    1616 
Drummond's    Alexander   Home  of  Renton,  whose  mother  Janet 
S£'part  was  daughter  and  heiress  of  David  Ellem  of  Renton, 
6,  p.  28.         and  so  a  kinswoman  of  the  Cockburns  of  Choicelee. 


XVlll. 


293 


iv.  William  (Hotkburn  of  €l)oueUc  was 

retoured  heir  to  his  father  James,  and  also  to  his 
grandfather  William,  23d  November  1598,  in  terris 
de   Goit-rig   lie   nuncupatis  vicarii    crofti,    Hauden,  ^r"v., 
Langlands  et  common  flat  vicarii  Sanct  Cudbert  in   £"*"*9', 

..  .      ,  -IT  Berwick, 

Langtoune  spectantibus  in  baronia  de  Langtoune.        *;.,  64- 

He  married  Sybilla,  daughter  of  Matthew  Sinclair 
of  Longformacus,  his  near  neighbour.  The  Sinclairs 
of  Longformacus  were  an  ancient  family  in  the 
Merse,  and,  Mr.  Nisbet  says,  the  oldest  branch  of 
the  House  of  Roslin.  "On  22d  June  1384  a  deed  Nisbet's 
was  signed  at  Roslin  by  which  Henry,  first  Earl  of 
Orkney,  obliges  himself  to  infeft  his  beloved  cousin,  P-  I23- 
Sir  James  Sinclair,  Baron  of  Longformacus,  in  a 
twenty  merk  land.  The  words  of  the  obligation  are 
— '  Universis  patent,  &c.,  nos  Henricum  de  Sancto 
Claro,  Comitem  Orcadiae  et  Dominum  de  Roslyn 
teneri  firmiter  et  fideliter  obligari  carissimo  consan- 
guineo  nostro  Jacobo  de  Sancto  Claro  Domino  de  Father  Hay's 
Longfurdmakhuse,' "  &c.  This  was  the  same  Sir 
James  referred  to  by  Father  Augustin  Hay  :  "  Ja- 
cobus de  St.  Cler  de  Lawgarmachus  cum  filio  suo 
Johanne  in  bello  de  Homolydun  in  MCCCCII.  capitur. 
Walterus  de  Sancto  Claro  occiditur  in  eodem."  Sir 
James  and  Walter,  however,  by  the  document 
quoted  by  Nisbet,  were  not  the  sons  of  Henry  de 
St.  Clair,  Earl  of  Orkney  and  Lord  of  Roslyn,  as 
Father  Hay  thought,  but  his  cousins. 

By  his  wife  Sybil,  William  Cockburn  had  four 
sons — Christopher,  who  succeeded  him  in  Choicelee, 
&c.,  James,  called  of  Newbigging,  afterwards  of 
Ryslaw,  John  of  Caldra,  and  David ;  and  three 
daughters — Elizabeth,  Mary,  and  Agnes.  Elizabeth 


294 

married  Stephen  Brounfield  of  Greenlawdene  and 
Hardaikeris.  He  was  the  son,  no  doubt,  of  Stephen 
Brounfield  of  Greenlawdene,  who,  with  Adam  Broun- 
field of  Hardaikeris,  was  killed  by  Haitlie  of  Lamb- 
den  in  1564. 

"  The  unhappy  slauchter  that  fell  out  upon 
suddane  chaud-mellee  "  of  Matthew  Sinclair,  Sybil's 
brother,  by  John  Spottiswoode  of  Spottiswoode,  and 
which  threatened  to  renew  sanguinary  feuds  on  the 
eastern  marches,  has  been  referred  to  in  the  intro- 
ductory pages.  In  1592  Edmonstone  ofWowmat, 
Ridpeth  of  Greenlaw,  &c.,  were  bound  under  heavy 
penalties  not  to  harm  William  Cockburn  of  Chouslie, 
Marion  Douglas,  his  mother,  and  James,  brother  of 
William,  tenants  of  Rawburne.  This  place  of  strife 
still  belonged  to  the  Spottiswoodes,  but  was  acquired 
not  long  after  by  the  Cockburns  of  Choicelee,  with 
Scarlaw  in  Rawburne.  Some  thirty  years  previously 
there  was  trouble  in  Rawburne.  "  John  Edzeare  of 
Pitcaim's  WedderKe,  Richard,  Oliver,  James,  and  John  Ed- 
'  7  a!s>  zeare,  with  Robert  Hude  [who  was  married  to  an 
Edgar],  were  dilaitit  of  convocatioune  of  ouer 
Soueraine  Ladie's  legis  to  ye  nomer  of  three  score 
personis  bodin  in  feir  of  wer,  with  jakkis,  swordis, 
steel  bonnettis,  daggis,  culveryngis,  and  vther  wap- 
pings  invasive  cumand  to  ye  landis  of  Rawburne 
lyand  within  ye  Sheriffdom  of  Berwick  pertening  to 
David  Spottiswoode  of  that  Ilk  vpoun  ye  xxiij.  day 
of  Sept.  1561.  The  said  laird  and  his  collegis  were 
acquit  by  declaration  of  ye  haill  assize." 

The  Edgars  were  an  ancient  family  in  the  Merse, 
being  mentioned  in  the  time  of  William  the  Lion, 
and  held  Wedderlie  for  more  than  five  centuries. 
In  1272  Sir  Patrick  Edgar  married  Mariota  de 


295 

Home.      The    Spottiswoodes  were  allied  to  them. 
Margaret  Edgar,  afterwards  wife  of  Walter  Scott  of  Border 


Harden,    "  Auld   Wat,"   was    married    first   to   this 

David    Spottiswoode's   grandson,   William    Spottis-  R.R.  stodart's 

wood  of  Spottiswood.     The    Lairds  of  Wedderlie  l"\.f,^. 

carried  sable  a  lion  rampant  argent,  and  for  crest 

a  dexter  hand  holding  a  dagger  point  downwards.  Nisbet's 

Their  motto  was  —  Man,  do  it.     They  were  wont  to  Edit'i^;!, 

act  up  to  it,  and  no  doubt  on  the  occasion  referred  to  p'  286- 

were  ready  to  "  strike  hard  "  the  occupants  of  Raw- 

burne,  who,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  had  set  this  well- 

armed  convocation  at  defiance. 

William  Cockburn  and  his  mother  Marion  appear 
to  have  been  quite  able  to  do  more  than  hold  their 
own  with  their  neighbours. 

At  Holyrood,  on  i4th  February  1588,  "William, 
Guidman  of  Chouslie,  and  Marioun,  his  mother,  were 
accused  of  having  conceivit  ane  deidlie  hatrent  Rtg.  of  Privy 
against  William  Methven,  minister  of  Langton  Kirk,  f™^™1 
minassing  sindrie  tymes  to  have  his  lyffe  ;  to  this 
effect  Markie  Ker,  brother  to  Lancie  Ker  of  Gate- 
shaw  and  William  Ker  of  Hartrop,  moved  by  the 
Laird  Cockburn  and  his  mother,  had  waylaid  the 
complenar  on  ist  December  last,  between  the  Kirk 
of  Langton  and  Fogo,  and  thair  maist  cruellie  and 
unmercefullie  persuit  him  for  his  bodily  harm  and 
slauchter,  and  woundit  him  in  divers  parts  of  his 
body,  to  the  effusioun  of  his  blude  in  grite  quantitie, 
and  dismemberit  him  of  ane  fingair  of  his  left  hand." 
Mark  Ker  and  Lancelot  Ker  not  appearing,  were 
denounced  rebels.  Archibald  Auchinleck  of  Cum-  Kid.,  p.  355. 
ledge  was  security  in  ^"500  for  each  of  them.  Wil- 
liam Cockburn  of  Chouslie  and  his  brother  James  got 
"from  Johnne  Trotter,  merchant  burgess  of  Edin- 


Reg.  of  Privy 
Coundl,  vol. 
vi,  p.  792. 
and  Introduc- 
tion, p.  xix. 


Kid.,  vol.  iv., 
p.  697. 


Ibid.,  p.  723. 


It  id.,  p.  701. 


Commiss.  of 
Edin.  Test, 
vols.  41,  42. 


296 

burgh,  ^100  each,  to  buy  each  of  them  from  Sir 
Michael  Balfour  of  Burley  such  arms  as  they  are 
subject  to  buy  according  to  the  Act  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  Estates."  Sir  Michael  had  the  monopoly  of 
selling  armour  for  three  years  from  i4th  December 
1599,  and  had  undertaken  to  import  arms  for  2000 
horsemen  and  8000  footmen. 

Such  a  good  supply  of  "wappens  invasive"  would 
be  welcome  in  the  house  of  Chouslie. 

On  8th  December  1591  Archibald  Douglas  of 
Stanypath  became  security  for  William  Cockburn  of 
Chousley  that  he  would  not  harm  David  Dundas  of 
Priestinche.  David  seems  to  have  been  a  persecuted 
person,  as  on  the  day  previous  "  Andrew  Sandi- 
lands  was  bound  as  principal  in  ,£1000,  and  his 
brother  Thomas  as  suretie,  that  the  said  David 
should  not  be  harmed  by  Andrew."  William  of 
Chouslie  had  made  many  enemies.  "  James  Hume 
of  Slegden  was  surety  for  Thomas  and  Rauf  Cathie 
in  Diurington,  that  William  and  his  mother  Marion, 
relict  of  James  of  Chousley,  and  James  brother  of 
William,  and  other  tenants  in  Rawburne,  should  be 
harmless  of  them."  Old  Patrick  Cockburn  of  East 
Borthwick,  tutor  of  Langton,  even,  the  universal 
peacemaker,  had  to  get  George  Home  of  Wedder- 
burn  to  answer  for  his  not  injuring  William  of 
Chouslie.  This  speaks  but  badly  for  the  said  Wil- 
liam. Patrick's  good  nature  had  evidently  been 
presumed  upon  too  far.  Sybilla  Sinclair,  his  wife, 
died  in  1606,  and  her  will  was  proved  2oth  June  of 
that  year  by  himself.  William  Ker  of  Mersington 
was  cautioner.  Her  sister  Elizabeth's  testament 
[she  was  wife  of  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Stobbis- 
wood]  was  recorded  3d  January  of  the  same  year. 


297 
William  Cockburn  of  Choicelee  died   1611,  and  his  c.omn!iss-°f 

Lauder  Tat., 

will    was  registered  in    1618  by  his  son    and    heir  voL  i. 
Christopher,  of  whom  presently. 

JAMES,  the  second  son  of  William  Cockburn  and  Sybil 
Sinclair,  is  a  Berwickshire  laird,  regarding  whom  the  greatest 
misapprehension  has  been  entertained,  and  absurd  misstate- 
ments  published.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  and  by  his  profession  and  marriages  acquired 
some  property.  He  was  knighted  after  the  year  1635,  as,  in 
an  obligation  to  James,  Lord  Doun,  dated  in  that  year,  he 
is  styled  simply  "  James  Cockburn  of  Ryslay."  The  honour 
may  have  been  conferred  upon  him  in  consequence  of  his 
having  built  a  bridge  over  the  Blackadder  at  Fogo  at  his 
own  expense,  and  presented  it  to  the  county.  The  inscrip- 
tion thereon  is  quite  legible — "  Cockburnus  fecit  et  nomen 
ipse  dedit  Ryslaw;"  and  on  another  tablet  are  the  letters 
I.C.M.D.  1641. 

His  first  residence  appears  to  have  been  the  place  called 
Newbigging,  which  his  own  uncle  James  Cockburn  was  also 
designated  of.  It  was  probably  as  tutor  for  his  nephew  that 
he  occupied  this  pendicle  of  the  Choicelee  property  upon  the 
Leet. 

On  1 7th  August  1617  there  was  a  deed  signed  at  "the 
house  of  Chouslie,  with  advice  and  consent  of  John  Sinclair 
of  Herdmanstoun,  and  of  Mr.  Christopher  Cockburn,  his 
uncle  and  administrator,  on  the  one  part,  and  James  Cock- 
burn  of  Newbigging,  father's  brother  and  tutor  to  the  said 
Christopher,  on  the  other  part,  whereby  the  said  James, 
understanding  his  said  brother's  son  Christopher  to  have 
knowledge  and  discretion  to  rewll  and  govern  his  own  living 
affaires  and  bisiness,"  therefore  becomes  obliged  to  deliver  to 
him  the  cornes,  cattell,  and  plenishing  following,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  by  him  as  he  thinks  best,  viz.,  the  increase  of  95 
bolls  oats,  sown  in  the  lands  ofWodend  and  Chouslie,  and 
of  15  bolls  i  firlot  bere  and  4  bolls  peas,  also  sown;  22 
drawing  oxen,  15  ky,  with  their  followers,  and  5  ky  with- 
out followers,  94  yowes,  tua  hors,  fyve  meres,  twa  staigs,  18 
yeld  nolt  in  Skarlaw,  196  auld  sheip,  120  lambs,  and  the 
haill  inside  plenishing  within  the  house  of  Chouslie,  as  the 


298 

same  was  left  by  umquhile  William  Cockburn  of  Chouslie, 
father  to  the  said  Christopher,  four  furnished  wanes  and  twa 
plewes,  with  necessaries  thereto  belonging ;  also  assigning  to 
Dttds,  vol.  "im  the  fermes  due  by  the  tenants  in  Symprene,   Goitrig, 

521.  Langton  Mill,  Newbigging,  Rawburne,  &c.     This  document 

shows  James  to  have  been  an  exact  man  of  business,  and 
gives  an  idea  of  the  moveable  property  on  a  Berwickshire 
farm  260  years  ago.  It  was  witnessed  by  Patrick  Cockburn 
of  Caldra,  Patrick  Cockburn  in  Chapelcleuche,  Francis 
Cockburn  in  Mungoswells,  &c.  Ratification  of  the  deed  was 
added  by  the  said  Christopher,  "3oth  March  1620,  after  his 
lawfull  and  perfyt  age  of  twentie-ane  yeirs." 

On  the  same  day  "  Mr.  Christopher  assigned  in  favour  of 
his  uncle,  Mr.  James  Cockburn  of  Newbigging,  all  the  lands, 
securities,  obligations,  &c.  made  to  the  late  William  Cock- 
burn  of  Chouslie,  his  father,  by  William  Cockburn  of  that 
Ilk,  and  his  spouse,  Elizabeth  Kinked,  for  the  sum  of  3600 
merks  advanced  by  the  said  James." 

On  26th  May  1649  there  was  executed   at  Edinburgh  a 
deed   of  assignation    by  the  above-named  James'   nephew, 
"Sir  James   Cockburn  of  Ryslaw,   Knight,  to   Christopher 
Cockburn,  eldest  son  of  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Chouslie, 
Ibid.,  vol.  598.  of  a  bond  by  the  latter,  brother  to  the  said  Sir  James,  and 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Cockburn,  also  his  brother,  for  3000  merks, 
which  bond  is  of  date  2oth  Nov.  1638,  and  registered  in  the 
books  of  Council  2ist  Nov.  1647,"  &c.  &c.  The  relationship 
of  Sir  James  of  Ryslaw  is  so  distinctly  stated,  there  would  be 
no  question  as  to  Christopher  of  Chouslie  being  his  elder, 
and  Colonel  John  of  Caldra  his  younger  brother,  upon  the 
evidence  of  this  deed  alone  ;  but  it  also  appears  set  forth  in 
many  other  documents.  On  25th  July  1625  charter  was 
given  under  the  Great  Seal  of  Charles  I.  to  James  Cockburn 
of  Newbigging,  and  the  heirs-male  of  his  body,  whom  failing, 
Rtg.  Great  to  Mr.  Christopher  Cockburn,  his  brother-german,  whom 

Seal,  lib.  51,  failing,  to  Mr.  John  Cockburn,  also  his  brother-german,  and 

servant  to  the  King,  and  the  heirs -male  of  their  bodies, 
whom  failing,  to  the  nearest  heirs  whatsoever  of  the  said 
James,  of  the  lands  of  Ryislaw,  Harcars,  Prentonan,  Calfward, 
Ryislaw-rig  in  the  Barony  of  Nudrie  Edmonston,  on  resigna- 
tion by  Sir  John  Edmonston  of  that  Ilk,  heritable  proprietor 
of  said  lands."  On  7th  December  1558  John  Edmonston 


299 


of  that  Ilk  had  settled  upon  Agnes,  daughter  of  Sir  Walter 
Ker  of  Cessford,  these  lands  of  Ryslaw,  &c.,  for  her  life, 
on  her  marriage  to  his  son  John  Edmonston.  So  the 
idea  that  it  was  an  old  possession  of  the  Cockburns  is 
perfectly  erroneous. 

On  3d  December  1633  a  deposition  was  made  by  Sir 
Robert  Hepburn,  advocate,  with  consent  of  Libra  Spence,  his 
spouse,  and  of  Mr.  John  Bowmaker,  in  favour  of  James 
Cockburn  of  Ryslaw,  County  Berwick  [he  had  not  been 
knighted  then],  of  some  lands  in  Prentonan  for  certain  sums 
of  money,  reserving  to  Magdalen  Craw,  relict  of  John  Bow- 
maker,  her  liferent  of  said  lands,  which  were  known  as  Bow- 
maker's  Hill,  and  were  of  very  limited  extent. 

Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Ryslaw,  who  was  for  a  time  Sheriff- 
Depute  of  the  county,  married  first  Jean,  daughter  of  Sir 
Alexander  Swinton  of  Swinton,  Sheriff  of  Berwickshire,  by 
his  wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  James  Home  of  Framepath 
and  St.  Bathans,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  James  and 
Alexander.  He  married  secondly  Jean,  daughter  of  Andrew 
Ker  of  Lintoun,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons,  Andrew,  Henry, 
and  John,  and  a  daughter  Jean,  who  had  in  1661  new  deed 
of  settlement  made  in  her  favour  out  of  the  lands  of  West 
Mersington,  parish  of  Eccles,  from  "  Harie  "  Ker  of  Lintoun, 
and  Margaret,  daughter  of  David  Home  of  Harcars,  his  wife. 
She  had  also  from  Margaret  Home,  with  her  said  husband 
Henry's  consent,  an  annual  rent  out  of  the  lands  and  barony 
of  Greenlaw.  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Ryslaw  died  in  No- 
vember 1659,  and  his  will,  dated  i8th  August  of  that  year, 
was  given  in  by  his  eldest  son,  James,  26th  November  1667. 
He  therein  estimated  his  liabilities  at  ^16,184  :6  :  8  Scots. 
He  "  owed  "  ^3333  :  6  : 8  to  his  second  son,  Alexander, 
^4000  to  his  third  son,  Andrew  [the  eldest  by  Jean  Ker], 
£2000  to  Henry,  the  fourth,  and  £2000  to  John,  the  fifth 
son.  Jeane,  their  sister-german,  was  to  have  ^2  666.  His 
lands  he  left  to  his  eldest  son,  James,  whom  failing,  they  were 
to  go  to  his  brothers  and  their  heirs  consecutively.  The 
Right  Honourable  John  Swintoun  of  that  Ilk,  his  brethren 
Alexander  and  George  Swintounes,  John  Cockburn  of  Caldra, 
his  brother-german,  and  Alexander  Home  of  Abbey  St. 
Bathans,  were  appointed  tutors  to  his  sons  James  and  Alex- 
ander. His  well-beloved  wife  Jean  Ker,  and  Andrew  Ker  of 

T  I 


Xtf.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  1331. 


Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  p.  58. 


General  Reg. 
of  Sasines, 
vol.  14,  fol. 
168. 


Ibid.,  vol.  i., 
fol.  371. 


Edinburgh 
Keg.  of  Testa- 
ments, vol.  3. 


300 


Inquisit. 
Generates, 
County 
Berwick,  No. 
4986. 


Commits,  of 
Louder  Test., 
vol.  iv.,  pp. 
23  and  190. 

Decreets, 
Dune  Office, 
vol.  281,  fol. 
582. 


Part.  Keg.  of 
Sasinet, 
County  Ber- 
wick, vol.  2, 
fol.  330. 


Lintoun,  her  father,  Henry  and  William  Ker,  her  brothers, 
were  named  as  guardians  of  his  sons  Andrew,  Henry,  and 
John.  Mrs.  Jean  Ker,  his  wife's  father's  sister,  was  also 
named  as  a  guardian  to  the  three  youngest  children.  He 
"ordained  that  his  body  should  be  buried  beside  his  first 
wife,  Jean  Swintoun,  in  the  aisle  at  Fogo  Kirk." 

JAMES  COCKBURN,  his  eldest  son,  was  retoured  heir 
to  his  father  in  his  lands.  The  words  of  the  retour  are — 
"Jacobus  Cockburn  de  Ryslaw  hseres  domini  Jacobi  Cock- 
burn  de  Ryslaw  militis."  They  were  so  heavily  burdened 
that  in  1710,  the  year  before  he  died,  he  executed  a  pro- 
visional deed  of  sale  to  Thomas  Calderwood  of  Dalkeith,  as 
shown  in  his  will  given  in  by  his  cousin  William  Cockburn  of 
Caldra,  who  was  himself  a  creditor  to  a  considerable  amount. 
Calderwood's  claim  amounted  to  .£21,763  more  than  the 
value  of  the  lands.  So  the  Lords  of  the  Council  and  Session 
found  "that  Thomas  Calderwood  had  right  to  the  amount 
mentioned  in  the  decreet  of  sale,  and  ordered  the  lands  to 
be  sold  by  public  roup,  and  his  offer  of  ,£50,000  Scots 
[^4167],  being  the  highest  made,  the  lands  were  ad- 
judged to  the  said  Thomas  Calderwood,  who  was  awarded 
judgment  for  the  said  sum  of  .£21,063  above  all  the  lands 
possessed  by  the  said  James  Cockburn,  namely,  Prentonan, 
Ryslaw,  and  Bowmaker's  Hill." 

These  details  serve  to  prove  how  utterly  absurd  the  notion 
is  that  there  existed  an  important  family,  Baronets  of  Rys- 
law, and  to  whom,  moreover,  are  given  the  lands  of  Cockburn. 
The  two  gentlemen  above  named  were  the  only  Cockburns 
who  ever  possessed  the  small  estate  of  Ryslaw.  James,  the 
younger,  is  styled  simply  "James  Cockburn  of  Ryslaw," 
when  in  1671  he  witnessed  Sir  Archibald,  second  Baronet  of 
Langton's  charter  of  Blackismylne,  to  Alexander  Cockburn, 
Christopher  of  Chouslie's  second  son.  The  small  importance 
of  these  lands  is  shown  by  the  deed  infefting  Adam  de 
Maxton,  Abbot  of  Melrose,  in  "  Campu  de  Ryslau  et  Campu 
de  Harcarris  infra  terram  de  Foghou." 

ALEXANDER  COCKBURN,  second  son  of  James 
Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ryslaw,  was  styled  of  Ladiekirk, 
County  Berwick,  for  which  county  he  held  the  office  of  Clerk 


301 


of  Supply.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  David  Swin- 
ton  of  Lauchton  [who  was  his  cousin-german].  They  had 
three  children,  Alexander,  Margaret,  and  Elizabeth.  The 
youngest  appears  to  have  been  born  in  Edinburgh.  The 
baptism  of  "  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Alexander  Cockburn  of 
Ladiekirk,  and  Margaret  Swinton,  was  registered  there  2zd 
August  1695."  On  ist  June  1714  sasine  was  given  upon 
heritable  bond  from  Sir  John  Swinton  of  Swinton  to  Margaret, 
spouse  of  the  deceased  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Ladiekirk,  of 
the  lands  of  Swinton-Mill.  Alexander,  son  of  the  deceased 
Alexander  Cockburn  of  Ladiekirk — who  was  a  more  fortu- 
nate man  than  his  elder  brother  James — was  served  heir  to 
his  uncle  George  Swinton  of  Lauchton.  Had  there  been  a 
hereditary  title  in  the  family,  this  Alexander  would  have  suc- 
ceeded to  it,  his  eldest  brother  having  left  no  son. 


City  of  Eifin. 
Reg.  of  Bap- 
tisms. 

Part.  Reg.  of 
Sasines, 
County  Ber- 
wick, vol.  8, 
part  2,  fol.Sl6. 


JOHN  COCKBURN,  third  son  of  William  Cockburn  of 
Choicelee  and  his  wife  Sybil  Sinclair,  succeeded  to  his 
cousin  Patrick  Cockburn's  property  of  Caldra,  which  appears 
to  have  been  held  by  him  and  his  father  from  the  Sinclairs 
of  Longformacus,  as  Rawburne  and  Scarlaw  were  from  the 
Spottiswoodes  by  the  family  of  Choicelee  before  they  acquired 
them  in  fee. 

Caldra  probably  came  to  John  Cockburn  from  his  mother. 

In  the  charter  to  his  brother  James  of  Ryslaw  of  that 
property  under  the  Seal  of  Charles  I.  he  was  styled  servant 
to  the  King,  being  in  the  Army.  He  was  Colonel  of  his 
regiment.  By  his  wife  Katherine  Cockburn,  a  kinswoman, 
he  had  a  son  William  and  a  daughter  Katherine,  who  married 
James  Faw,  gentleman  of  Dunbar,  and  had  a  daughter 
Katherine  married  to  Robert  Seton  of  Meany  [Mounie], 
County  Aberdeen,  heir-male  and  representative  of  the  Setons 
of  Meldrum.  On  ist  May  1663  he  had  charter  from  James 
Macgill  of  Cranstoune-Riddell,  Lord  Oxfurd,  of  Rawburne, 
that  troublesome  place  to  the  Choicelee  Cockburns,  adjudged 
to  him  from  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee.  He 
married,  secondly,  Marie  Monylaws,  and  made  a  settlement 
upon  her  of  3000  merks  out  of  the  lands  of  Caldra,  in  the 
parish  of  Fogo,  and  of  Rawburne,  in  the  parish  of  Crawschaws. 
He  had  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  married  to  Edward  Devis, 
called  "  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  His  Majesty's  Horse 


Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
Edit.  1722, 
p.  242. 

General  Reg. 
of  Sasines, 
vol.  vi.,fol.  29. 

Part.  Reg.  of 
Sasines, 
County  Ber- 
wick, vol.  3. 
fol.  82. 


Commiss.  of 
Laudtr  Test., 
vol.  5,  p.  236. 

Ibid.,  p.  190. 

Part.  Res.  of 
Sasitus, 
County  Ber- 
wick, vol.  9> 
part  i.,  fol.  85. 


Kid.,  vol.  II, 
fols.  77-79- 


Central  Reg. 
ofSatinrs, 
vol.  165,  fol. 
101. 


IHd.,  vol.  869, 
fol.  228. 


RuthirfurJs 
of  that  Ilk, 
p.  xxvi. 


302 

Guards,"  and  a  son  William,  who  was  also  in  the  Army,  who 
was  executor  of  his  cousin  James  younger  of  Ryslaw's  will, 
which  he  gave  up  with  the  inventory  of  his  estate  in  1720. 
He  died  himself  in  the  following  year,  his  own  will  being 
proved  by  his  brother  Colonel  Charles,  i2th  June  1722. 
He  got  the  parsonage  lands  of  Grueldykes,  in  the  parish  of 
Dunse,  i3th  April  1716,  under  charter  from  Charles,  Earl  of 
Lauderdale. 

Charles  Cockburn  was  a  distinguished  member  of  this 
military  family  of  Caldra.  He  was  a  Brigadier-General  in 
the  Army  when  he  was  served  heir  to  his  brother  Captain 
William  in  the  lands  of  Caldra,  xoth  August  1733,  and  in 
the  lands  of  Grueldykes.  He  married  Lucretia  Pyper,  and 
settled  upon  her  the  liferent  of  Caldra.  William,  the  next 
proprietor,  was  also  a  Captain  in  the  Army.  He  had  sasine 
on  precept  from  Chancery,  7th  June  1739,  of  Caldra,  in  the 
parish  of  Fogo,  and  Grueldykes,  in  the  parish  of  Duns,  as 
nearest  and  lawful  heir  of  Brigadier-General  Charles  Cock- 
burn,  his  father,  and  Lieutenant  Charles  had  sasine  thereof 
in  like  manner,  as  heir  to  his  brother  Captain  William  Cock- 
burn,  who  died  in  May  1742  unmarried.  He  sold  the  pro- 
perty to  the  Homes  of  Wedderburn. 

On  28th  April  1762  Patrick  Home  of  Wedderburn  gave 
sasine  of  Caldra  to  Patrick  Home  of  Billie,  advocate,  there- 
after of  Wedderburn. 

From  the  Homes  it  passed,  with  all  the  Wedderburn 
estates,  to  Jean  Foreman,  daughter  of  William  Foreman  by 
his  wife  Jean,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  George  Home  of  Guns- 
green,  eventual  heiress  of  John  Foreman  and  his  wife, 
Margaret  Tod  [the  grand-daughter  of  George  Home  of  Wed- 
derburn], who  succeeded  to  Wedderburn,  Paxton,  &c.  Jean 
Foreman  married  David  Milne  of  Milne-Graden,  County 
Berwick.  Their  son,  Colonel  Milne-Home,  is  now  proprietor 
of  the  estates  of  the  Homes  of  Wedderburn,  so  famous  in 
border  story.  The  Formans  of  Hutton  in  the  Merse,  from 
whom  the  above-named  gentlemen  probably  descended,  were 
influential  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  Sir  John 
Forman  of  Dalvene,  who  married  Helen  Ruthirfurd,  "  Ladye 
of  that  Ilk,  whose  brother  Andrew,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow, 
was  one  of  the  Regents  of  Scotland,  and  Sir  Robert  Forman, 
Lyon  King-of-Arms,  were  of  the  same  race." 


303 


v.  4It)ri0t0pl)ev  Olockburn  of 

eldest  son  of  William  and  his  wife  Sybil  Sinclair, 
succeeded  his  father.     The  retour  of  "  Christopherus 
Cockburn  de  Chousley,  haeres  Willelmi  de  Chousley 
patris,"    was    dated     2     May    1611.      He   died    in  Commiss.o/ 
December    1631,    and    his   will   was    registered    at  wLL 
Lauder.      By  his  wife  Jean  or  Janet  [daughter  of  his  Douglas' 
neighbour  Sir  Patrick    Hume  of  Polwarth,   by  his  voTiff'p.  178. 
wife  Janet,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Ker  of  Fernie- 
hirst]  he  had  three  sons  —  William,  who  was  appointed  Etiin-  Res-  °f 
by  his  uncle  James   Cockburn,   Knight  of  Ryslaw,  vol.  3. 
cautioner  to  his  will,  Alexander,  and  Christopher. 

The  above-named  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of  Polwarth's 
mother,  Jeane  Hepburn,  was  the  sister  of  Helen, 
wife  of  Alexander  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk,  who  died 
in  1587. 

ALEXANDER,    second   son   of  Christopher  and  Jean 
Hume,  his  wife,  married  in   1654  Elizabeth,  only  child  of 
Robert  Cockburn  of  Blackismylne,  son  of  Sir  James  of  Lang- 
ton,  and  by  her  got  that  property,  of  which  he  had  charter  Part.  Reg. 
from  the  superior   thereof,   Sir   Archibald,  second   Baronet  t/Satinu, 
of  Langton,  dated  at  Langton  Castle  8th  September  1671.  TO^^01.  2, 
His  descendant,  Robert  of  Blackismiln,  had  on  his  own  resig-  f°'-  33°- 
nation  new  infeftment  of  Newbigging,  in  the  parish  of  Inner- 
wick  and  lordship  of  Bothwell.      This  place  was  situated  on  fffg.ofSasines, 
the  Bothwell  Water,  a  tributary  of  the  Whitadder,  Blackis-  f^f  vff  *~ 
miln,  above  Stobbiswood,  upon  the  head  of  another  stream,    144,  No.  256. 
falling  into  the  same  river. 

This  last  Robert  Cockburn  descended  from  a  younger  son 
of  the  above  Alexander,  is  styled  in  the  deed  above  referred 
to  "  Robert  Cockburn,  joiner  in  Chatham,  England,"  and  also 
in  the  same  document  is  called  "  Sir  Robert"  —  an  example 
of  the  manner  in  which  distinctions  are  assigned  to  persons 
by  clerical  errors.  The  family  of  Blackismiln  has  been  mis- 
taken for  that  of  Langton-Mill,  who,  with  their  relatives 
[described  as  of  Broughton  Place,  Edinburgh],  their 


304 

representative,  Mr.  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Dunse  [son  of  John, 
Clerk  of  the  Peace  and  Procurator-Fiscal  for  the  county  of 
Berwick],  writing  in  1830,  says,  "could  claim  no  more  dis- 
tinguished ancestor  than  '  the  Gudeman  of  Langton-Miln.'  " 
Of  course,  as  this  worthy  gentleman  [who  was  much  respected 
in  the  county]  goes  on  to  observe,  "  The  gudeman  must  have 
had  ancestors  no  doubt,  and  they,  for  anything  we  know  to 
the  contrary,  may  have  been  descended  from  some  branch  of 
the  honourable  family  of  Langton." 


vi.   TOilliam  Cockburu   of 

eldest  son  of  Christopher  and  his  wife  Jean   Hume, 
married  Jeane,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Moray  of 
Douglas'          Dreghorn,  Master  of  the  Works  to  Charles  II.,  by 
p.To".  his  wife   Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Foulis, 

Baronet  of  Colinton.     Sir  Alexander,  first  Baronet 
of  Colinton,  had  charter  of  Dreghorn  in  1642.     Sir 
William's  elder  brother,  Sir  Robert,  was  Lord  Jus- 
Burke's          tice-Clerk.      They   were   the   sons   of    Sir    Mungo 
Gentry,  vol.  u.  Moray  of  Craigie,  third  son  of  Robert   Moray  of 
Abercairney,    who    married     in     1560     Catherine, 
daughter  of  William    Murray  of  Tullibardine,  an- 
cestor of  the  Dukes  of  Athole.     William  Cockburn, 
who  was  a   Commissioner  of  Supply   for   County 
ActsofPari.     Berwick  in   1685,  had  by  his  wife  Jeane  Moray  a 
son    Francis.      Dame    Christian    Hamilton,    second 
wife  of  Sir  Mungo  Murray  of  Blebo,  fifth  son  of 
John    Murray   of  Touchadam    by    his   wife    Anne, 
daughter  of  Sir  Alexander  Gibson  of  Durie  [Lord 
Durie],  died  in  Edinburgh  in  1710.      In  her  will  she 
mentions  that  her  husband's  daughter    by  his  first 
wife,  Henrietta  Murray,  married  Francis  Cockburn. 
The  name  of  Francis  is  not  found  amongst  the 
Cockburns  until  after  the  connection  by  marriage  of 


305 

the  families  of  Choicelee  and  Tempillhall,  &c.  with 
the  Douglasses  of  Longniddry.  Francis  Cockburn 
has  been  mentioned  as  being  in  Mungoswells  in 
1617.  In  the  following  year  there  is  a  record  of 
the  renunciation  by  Francis  Cockburn  of  Temple,  Deeds,  vol. 
son  and  heir  of  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Cockburn  of  48o> 
Temple  [Tempillhall],  in  favour  of  Sir  John  Cock- 
burn  of  Ormiston,  Knight,  Justice-Clerk,  the  gran- 
ter's  uncle,  in  liferent,  and  to  Mr.  John  Cockburn, 
Sir  John's  eldest  son,  in  heritage  of  the  lands  of 
Huntlaw  and  Dryburgh,  held  of  John  Sinclair  of 
Herdmanston,  and  Easter  Templehall,  held  of  Sir 
John  Cockburn.  This  deed  was  registered  23d 
December  1634  at  the  instance  of  Sir  George  Cock- 
burn  of  Ormiston,  Knight,  "  oy  and  air  "  of  umquhile 
Sir  John  Cockburn,  against  Mr.  William  Cockburn 
of  Vogrie,  brother  and  heir  of  Francis,  now  deceased, 
but  who  refused  to  enter  heir  to  his  said  brother.  It 
may  be  that  this  Francis  of  Tempillhall,  as  the  name 
was  formerly  written,  was  the  same  person  who  was 
in  Mungoswells  in  1617,  and  witnessed  the  transfer 
of  his  inheritance  to  Christopher  Cockburn  of 
Choicelee.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  the  endeavours 
made  by  old  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  to  restore 
good  feelings  between  his  sons,  the  Justice-Clerk  and  IbiJ.,  p.  137. 
Samuel  of  Temple,  had  not  availed  to  make  things 
go  on  quietly,  and  Francis  having  made  over  his 
lands  in  the  county  of  Haddington  to  his  uncle  the 
Justice-Clerk  [excepting  the  Mill  of  Temple,  settled 
upon  his  wife  Marion  Boyd,  of  which  they  con-  /<*»</.,  vol. 
jointly  gave  a  lease  in  1622  ,  having  no  son,  his  3  ^ 
brother  William  being  his  heir,  very  possibly  had 
come  to  live  in  peace  at  Mungo's  Wells,  near  his 
cousins  on  his  mother's  side,  the  Cockburns  of 
Choicelee.  In  1551  Sir  Richard  Maitland  of 


306 

R,g.  Great  Lethington  witnessed  the  charter  from  George  Nesbit 
V"  of  that  Ilk,  whereby,  in  fulfilment  of  their  marriage- 
contract,  he  gave  "terras  de  Mungois-wallis  cum 
fortalicio  et  manerie,  &c.,  de  vie  Berwik,"  to  his 
betrothed,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Cuthbert  Cran- 
stoun  of  Mavis.  It  may  be  conveniently  stated  here 
that  it  seems  doubtful  whether  Sir  George  of 
Ormiston's  father's  name  was  Patrick,  as  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  memoir  of  the  House  of  Ormiston. 
The  documents  referred  to  in  which  Patrick  is  men- 
tioned along  with  his  father  are  exceedingly  dilapi- 
dated, and  portions  altogether  wanting.  Sir  George 
himself  has  been  totally  overlooked  in  the  family 
genealogies.  As  the  deed  quoted  above  is  clear  and 
distinct,  and  Mr.  John  is  mentioned  as  eldest  son 
living  in  1617,  he  may  have  been  Sir  George's 
father.  He  never  succeeded  to  Ormiston,  Sir 
George  being  served  heir  to  his  grandfather,  Sir 
John,  the  Justice-Clerk. 

Vogrie,  mentioned  in  this  document  as  being  then 
the  property  of  Samuel  Cockburn  of  Temple's 
younger  son  William,  was  acquired  in  the  beginning 
of  the  following  century  by  the  family  of  Dewar.  John 
Cockburn,  son  of  Baron  Cockburn  of  Cockpen,  married, 
as  noticed,  Eliza,  daughter  of  James  Dewar  of  Vogrie. 

The  Cockburns  of  Choicelee  carried  the  quartered 
coat  of  Langton  ;  for  difference,  the  paternal  coat 
within  a  border  azure.  Sir  James  of  Ryslaw, 
Knight,  placed  a  mans  heart  gules  on  the  fesse 
point  between  the  three  cocks,  as  difference  from 
the  arms  borne  by  his  elder  brother,  Christopher 
Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  and  also  probably  [as  did 
some  of  the  Haddington  Cockburns  for  the  same 
reason]  to  mark  his  descent  from  the  family  of 
Douglas  of  Longniddry. 


COCKBURN  OF  COCKBURN, 

BERWICKSHIRE. 


I.  Militant  Cockbtmt,  the  second  son  of 
Sir  William,  Baron  of  Langton,  killed  at  Flodden, 
was  the  founder  of  this  later  branch  of  the  Cock- 
burns,  styled  "  de  eodem."  He  became  possessed 
of  the  ancient  home  of  his  ancestors  in  1527.  There 
had  been  no  continuing  family  of  the  name,  in  Cock- 
burn,  since  the  time  of  Piers  de  Cockburn,  though  it 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  occupation  of  scions  of 
the  family  of  Langton,  now  and  again  resident  there, 
as  vassals  of  the  Dunbars  and  Lindsays. 

There  was  a  Johannes  de  Cokburne  who  witnessed 
a  deed  2d  September  1408  respecting  the  rights  of 
the  Lady  Margaret,  daughter  or  grand-daughter  of 
King  Robert  II.,  widow  of  Sir  John  Swinton  of 
Swinton,  to  her  terce  of  the  lands  of  Swinton.  He 
was  probably  the  son  of  John  of  Ormiston,  and  his 
wife  Janet  Lindsay,  who  was  much  in  the  border 
country  at  that  time  on  important  Government  affairs. 

Also,  a  "  thorn  off  Cokburn,"  who  witnessed  a 

u  i 


p.  xviu.', 
APPendlx- 


3o8 

deed  relating  that  at  a  Court  held  at  Langton  22d 
April  1433,  "Adam  of  Cokburn,  the  Sheriff," 
awarded  to  Marjorie,  daughter  of  George  Dunbar, 
Earl  of  March,  widow  of  Sir  John  Swinton  of 
Swinton,  son  of  the  above  referred  to  Sir  John,  her 
terce  of  her  first  husband's  lands.  She  had  re- 
married  Lucas  de  Stryvelin,  ancestor  of  the  Stirlings 
26,  afd  APpP'  of  Keir,  who  appeared  at  the  Court  before  Adam  of 
pendix,  xxxiv.  o^bum  as  her  laiichful  attornay  be  cure  lege  kyngis 
letres  til  Mariory  of  Swyntoun. 

Marjorie's  brother  was  the  David  de  Dunbar  de 
Cokburn,  of  whom  mention  has  been  already  made, 
whose  daughter  and  heiress,  Mariota,  married  Sir 
Alexander  Lindsay,  Earl  of  Crawfurd. 

On  the  1 5th  April  1527,  William  Cockburn  had 
confirmation  of  the  charter — "  Davidi  comitis  Craw- 
furdie,  Domini  Lindesay,  qua  concessit  Willelmo 
Cokburn  de  eodem  et  Isobelle  Hume  ejus  sponse, 
Keg.  Great  et  ipsorum  alteri  diutius  viventi  in  vitali  redditu,  et 
Nt'^1' "''  Alexandro  filio  et  heredi  apparenti  dicti  Wil.  inter 
ipsum  et  diet.  Isobelle  genito,  heredibus  ejus  et 
assignatis  hereditarie  terras  et  baron  iam  de  Inverarite 
(excepta  villa  de  Haltoun  infra  dictam  baroniam  vie 
Forfar)  in  speciale  warrantum  terrarum  de  Cokburn, 
cum  molendinis  granorum  et  fullonum,  tenentibus, 
et  le  outsettis,  silvis  et  nemoribus  vie  Berwyk,  eisdem 
Wil.  Isob.  et  Alex,  per  dictum  Davidem  venditarium, 
de  rege  tenend.  regis  confirmatione  desuper  obtenta." 
nid.,  vol.  iii.,  In  1532  he  also  acquired  by  purchase  from  Alex- 
ander Kirkpatrick  of  Kirkmichael  the  lands  of  Loch- 
toun,atias  Loch  Birgheame,  with  its  appanages,  mill, 
&c.,  which  had  been  granted  to  the  Kirkpatricks  by 
James  III.  on  the  forfeiture  "  Alexandri  olim 
Ducis  Albanie,"  with  other  great  estates  which  had 


3°9 

belonged  to  James  Earl  of  Douglas,  and  William  Rfg.  Great 
Lord  Crichton,  and  had  fallen  into  the  King's  hands 
by  their  rebellion. 

Isobel  Home  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  David 
Home,  killed  at  Flodden,  so  was  sister  of  the  famous 
brothers,  "The  seven  spears  of  Wedderburn."  She 
possessed  in  her  own  right  the  lands  of  Greenrigg, 
which,  with  consent  of  her  husband,  who  probably 
desired  the  proceeds  thereof,  she  parted  with  to  "  a 
noble  man,  John  Swyntoun  of  Swyntoun,"  who  was 
married  to  her  sister  Marion,  and  within  the  bounds 
of  whose  ancient  barony  the  lands  lay. 

On  the  cold  grey  morning  of  3oth  December 
1530  she  ascended  the  winding  stair  in  the  old  tower, 
and  "  apud  fortalicium  de  Cokburn  in  camera 
superior!  eiusdem,  horam  circiter  decimam  ante  ptLdfxf' Ap 
meridiem,"  signed  away  her  inheritance.*  Perhaps  in  p- cviii- 
that  uppermost  chamber  of  the  fortalice  of  Cokburn 
she  shed  some  tears  as  she  did  so,  her  feelings  being 
akin  to  those  of  the  old  Maori  chieftain,  who,  unable 
to  contend  against  the  pressure  put  upon  him  by  a 
ruthless  grasping  Government,  said,  as  he  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  deed  alienating  the  loved  lands 
of  his  ancestors,  "  Under  the  bright  sun  of  heaven 
on  this  day  of  sale  I  have  wept  over  and  bidden 
farewell  to  the  territory  I  hereby  cede  to  the  Queen." 
Poor  old  fellow,  he  had  at  least  the  bright  sun  to 
cheer  him  !  The  Lady  Isobel,  in  the  dark  grey  peel- 
tower,  had  no  such  sustaining  brightness  around  her 
on  that  winter  morning. 

William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk,  uncle  of  the  young 
Baron  of  Langton,  Sir  James,  has  already  been 
alluded  to  as  being  very  prominently  concerned  in 
the  murder  of  Sir  Anthony  Darcy  de  la  Bastie 

*  The  sentence  after  "inheritance,"  line  17,  should  be  as 
follows  : — "  Notwithstanding  her  having  sworn,  tactis  sacro  sanctis 
Dei  Evangeleis,  that  she  did  not  do  this  under  compulsion  or 
constraint,  perhaps  in,  &c." 


3io 


/>t  rtbus  gestis 
X'-otorum, 
fctantif  Leslie 
Scoto.  Efts- 
topo  Rossensi, 
Edit.  Roma;, 
MDLXXVIII. 


Red  path's 
Border 
History,  p. 
512. 


Diumal  of 
Occurrcnts  in 
Scotland,  p.  7 


[Dominus  Bautaeus  Callus,  as  John  Lesley,  Bishop 
of  Ross,  calls  him],  for  which,  as  he  puts  it,  in  the 
Parliament  held  soon  after,  "  Wodderburnenseis  et 
socii  damnati  sunt  ...  in  Davidem  Humaeum 
Wodderburnensum,  ejusque  tres  fratres,  in  Guiliel- 
mum  Cokburnum.  Johannem  Hunueum  aliosque, 
qui  eadem  scaeleris  societate  tenebantur.  Id  est 
quod  Langtoniam  arcem  obsiderint,  Bautseum  intere- 
merint  caput  palo  praefixerint,  Anglosque  de  re  regni 
comminuenda  convenerent  aliasque  plurimas  labes 
susceperint,  iusta  proscriptions,  capitisque  sententia 
discebatur."  Whether,  as  has  been  stated,  there  were 
several  Cockburns  declared  rebels  with  the  Homes, 
and  took  refuge  in  England,  or  not,  William  de 
eodem  is  the  only  one  of  the  name  who  is  found 
obtaining  remission  for  the  crime.  On  the  2ist 
July  1522  this  was  granted  to  him  "for  art  and  part 
of  the  treasonable  slaughter  of  Sir  Anthony  d'Arcis 
de  le  Bussy,  Knight,  guardian  and  lieutenant  within 
the  bounds  of  Lothian  and  the  Merse,  and  for  assist- 
ing the  committers  of  the  said  slaughter,  after  com- 
mitting thereof,  and  of  absconding  redhand,  and  for 
art  and  part  of  assisting  umquhile  Alexander,  Lord 
Home."  His  brother-in-law  Sir  David  Home  of 
Wedderburn  had  powerful  interest.  His  wife 
Alison,  who  had  been  married  first  to  Robert  Black- 
adder  of  that  Ilk,  killed  at  Flodden,  was  sister  of 
Archibald,  sixth  Earl  of  Angus,  whose  second  wife 
was  Margaret  of  England,  widow  of  James  IV.  He 
had  supreme  authority  in  Scotland,  more  especially 
after  his  divorce  from  Queen  Margaret,  and  had 
set  Albany  at  defiance  after  the  judicial  murder  by 
him  of  Lord  Home  and  his  brother.  "  Upoune  the 
tuantie  day  of  Julii  the  zeir  of  God  im- vc-  xxi  zeris 


3'J 

Archibald,  Erie  of  Angus,  come  to  Edinburgh,  and 
thair  causit  tak  af  the  tolbuith  thairof  my  Lord 
Home's  heid  and  his  broderis,  and  deliuerit  thame 
to  George  Home  and  Dauid  Homes  of  Wedder- 
burne  than  at  the  home,  and  within  twa  days  there- 
after he  brocht  in  the  said  George  and  Dauid  Homes 
in  Edinbrugh  quhair  thay  remanit  thre  dayis." 

In  1539  a  decreet  was  given  by  James  Foulis  of 
Colinton,  Lord  Clerk  Registrar,  as  oversman  chosen 
to  decide  betwixt  William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and 
George  Home  of  Spot  in  the  complaint  of  the  latter 
against  the  said  William,  "  for  the  maisterful 
and  violent  spoliatioun  and  away-taking  and  with- 
halding  of  certane  gudis,  nolt,  horse,  and  meris  out 
of  the  landis  of  Crunklaw  alias  callit  Duns-Mainis, 
and  anent  the  decreet-arbitral  given  in  behalf  of  said 
William  Cokburn  by  James  Cokburn  of  Langton, 
Patrick  Cokburn  of  Newbigging,  and  Mr.  John  ^'«-°™»- 

*  norum  Con- 

Lethame,   parson  of  Kirkcroft,   assoilzing  the  said  dinetSa- 

.-..,,.  .  11111  -11  sionis,  vol.  xii., 

William  on  the  ground  that  he  had  paid  the  com-  foi.  184. 
pleinar  355  merks ;  also  anent  the  decreet-arbitral 
given  on  behalf  of  said  George  Home  by  William 
Home  of  Lochtullo,  and  James  Preston,  burgess  of 
Edinburgh,  finding  the  said  William  guilty  of  said 
spulzie."  The  oversman  affirmed  the  latter  decreet, 
and  found  William  Cockburn  liable  to  said  George 
Home  in  220  merks. 

By  his  wife,  Isobel  Home,  William  of  that  Ilk  had 
two  sons,  Alexander,  his  successor,  and  George,  and 
several  daughters.  Katherine,  Agnes,  and  Isobel  are 
mentioned. 

I.  KATHERINE  married  John,  son  "  Georgii  de  Sancto- 
Claro  de  Blainis,"  who  settled  xoth  February  1547  [his 
mother's  interest  therein  being  reserved],  half  of  the  lands 


112 


Keg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
Nos.  182,1375, 
1408. 

Nishet's 
Heraldry, 
p.  I2II. 


Acta  Domi- 
norum  Con- 
cilii,  xxi.,  70. 


of  Blanss,  with  the  manor-house  thereof,  upon  their  eldest  son, 
William  Sinclair,  and,  ten  years  afterwards,  sold  the  other 
half  to  their  second  son,  David,  Vicarius  de  Innerlathen,  who 
married  Mariota  Lauder.  Confirmation  of  the  charter  was 
given  under  the  Great  Seal  of  "  Franciscus  et  Maria  Rex  et 
Regina,"  3oth  September  1559. 

The  Sinclairs  of  Elans,  who  were  much  intermarried  with 
the  Cockburns,  were  cadets  of  the  House  of  Herdmanston. 

AGNES,  another  daughter,  married  Walter  Chepman  of 
Ewirland,  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  the  introducer  of  the  art  of 
printing  into  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  James  IV.,  who  took 
keen  interest  in  his  undertaking.  He  had  a  partner,  "  Andro 
Myllar,"  a  practical  printer.  They  had  protection  by  charter 
under  the  Privy  Seal  in  1509  from  the  King  because  "they, 
at  our  instance  and  request,  for  our  pleasour,  the  honour  and 
proffitt  of  our  realme  and  legis,  tak  on  thame  to  furnis  and 
bring  hame  ane  prent,  with  all  the  stuff  belangand  tharto, 
and  expert  men  to  use  the  samyn ; "  and  to  prevent  their 
losing  by  the  introduction  of  Breviaries,  printed  at  Sarum, 
hence  known  as  "  Salisberys,"  and  other  books  published 
there,  at  York,  and  other  places,  King  James  guarded  them, 
as  the  document  goes  on  to  set  forth,  thus — "  We  have  grantit 
and  promittit  to  thame  that  thai  sail  nocht  be  hurt  nor  pre- 
venit  tharon  be  ony  utheris  to  tak  copyis  of  ony  bukis  furtht 
of  oure  realme  to  ger  imprint  the  samyne  in  utheris  cuntreis 
to  be  brocht  and  sauld  agane  within  our  realme,  ....  and 
that  na  maner  of  sic  bukis  of  Salusbery  use  be  brocht  to  be 
sauld  within  oure  Realme  in  tyme  cuming." 

Chepman  had  been  an  intimate  and  useful  familiar  of  the 
King  for  many  years,  and  was  entrusted  with  the  custody  of 
his  Privy  Seal.  On  zist  February  1495  there  was  charged 
in  the  Lord  Treasurer's  accounts  "  i2d.  giffen  to  ane  boy  to 
rynne  from  Edinburg  to  Linlithg.  to  Walter  Chepman  to 
signet  twa  letteris." 

Agnes  Cockburn,  his  wife,  got  the  lands  of  Loch-Birgham, 
above  mentioned,  and  after  her  husband's  death,  whom  she 
survived  about  twenty  years  [she  was  his  second  wife],  she 
resigned  them  to  her  brother  Alexander  of  that  Ilk  in  1563. 
Her  husband  and  she  gave  conjointly  in  1513  to  the  Church 
of  St.  Egidia  (St.  Giles),  for  the  good  of  the  souls  of  King 


313 

James  and  Margaret,  his  wife,  his  predecessors,  and  succes- 
sors, and  for  his  own  soul  and  that  of  "Agnes  Cokburne 
sponse  mee  moderne,"  and  the  soul  of  "  Mariote  Kerkettel 
olim  sponse  mee,"  and  the  souls  of  his  father  and  mother, 
and  of  all  his  ancestors  and  successors,  the  donation  of  a 
property  in  the  Cowgate  of  Edinbrugh.  The  ecclesiastics 
afterwards  claimed  some  portion  of  this  as  a  gift  in  perpetuity 
for  a  certain  altar,  but  he  repudiated  their  demand,  declaring 
that  he  had  not  so  granted  the  property  in  question,  "ad 
altare  Sancti  Johannis  Evangeliste  in  capella  ipsius  per  me 
fundata  in  Australe  parte  ecclesise  Bead  Egidii." 

John  Chepman  granted  an  annuity  for  the  support  of  a 
chaplain  at  this  altar  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  in  the  aisle 
built  and  endowed  by  his  uncle,  Walter  Chepman,  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Giles,  in  which  aisle  he  was  buried  and  his 
wife  Agnes  Cockburn  also. 

William    Cockburn   died  in    1564,  and    was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  eldest  son — 

ii.    2Uexan5er  (Eorkburn  of  (Eockburn, 

who  was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  in  Cockburn  and 
other  lands  in  1565.  One  of  the  first  things  the 
Regent  Murray  did  after  taking  into  his  hands  the 
government  of  the  country  [brought  into  such  a 
deplorable  state  of  anarchy  and  confusion  by  his  own 
traitorous  proceedings  against  the  Queen,  that,  as 
Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  the  very  children  in  the  towns 
and  villages  formed  themselves  into  bands  for  King 
James  or  Queen  Mary,  and  fought  inveterately  with 
stones,  sticks,  and  knives],  was,  on  22d  August  1567, 
with  avyse  of  the  Lordis  of  the  Counsall,  to  direct 
charge  "  to  summon  John  Home  of  Blacatre,  Dawid 
Hume  of  Wedderburne,  John  Lumisden  of  Blanerne, 
George  Hume  of  Ay  ton,  John  Sincler  of  Longfor-  Reg.  of  the 
macus,  Alexander  Cokburn  of  that  Ilk,  and  others,  Vo7.Y,PTsi.' 
to  give  their  avyse  anent  the  ordering  of  Justice  and 


establishment  of  quietness  within  the  boundis  of  the 
Eist  Marche,  as  thai  will  answeir  on  thair  uttermost 
charge  and  perell." 

D,H,:,aiof  Murray  set  himself  to  work,  amongst  other  enter- 
T*'  prises  to  clear  the  land  of  witches.  He  journeyed 
to  the  North,  and  on  his  way  "  causit  burne  certane 
witches  at  Sanct  Androis,  and  in  his  returning  he 
causit  burne  ane  vther  cumpany  of  witches  at 
Dundie  ; "  but  we  do  not  find  Alexander  Cockburn 
and  his  neighbours  following  his  example,  and  burn- 
ing any  unfortunates  to  advance  "  the  ordering  of 
justice"  in  the  Merse. 

On  the  i  sth  June  1581,  Alexander  was  one  of  the 
assize,  along  with  "John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston, 
Ninian  Spottiswoode  of  that  Ilk,  Dammahoy  [Dal- 
mahoy]  of  that  Ilk,  Congilton  of  that  Ilk,  &c., 
assembled  to  try  George  Hwm  of  Spot  for  the  mur- 
thour  of  ouer  Soueraine  Lordis  darest  fader  Henry, 
King  of  Scots,"  whom  they  acquitted. 

The  Laird  of  Cockburn  married  Helen,  daughter 
of  Sir  Alexander  Hepburne  of  Quhitsum  [Whitsome] 
in  the  Merse,  by  whom  he  got  the  lands  of  Quhitsun- 
Ktg.  Great       Lawis,  of  which  he  had  charter  2;th  February  1573. 
Nos.l82s,V"    Mariota   Hepburne,   wife   of  Alexander  Cockburn, 
1834,  2023.      apparent  of  Langton,  killed  at  Flodden,  had  a  settle- 
ment out  of  lands  in  Quhitsun. 

They  had  five  sons— William,  John,  Alexander, 
Adam,  and  Patrick ;  and  two  daughters— Margaret 
and  Marion. 

His  father-in-law  held  Quhitsun,  alias  Hepburne- 
Quarter,  from  "  James  Hepburn,  Dominus  de  Hallis, 
sumtyme  Erie  of  Bothuil,"  and  was  subjected  to  for- 
feiture along  with  that  notorious  Earl.  The  greater 
part  of  Sir  Alexander's  property  in  Whitsome  was 


Seal  of  Patrick,  Dominus 
de  Hales,  A.D.  1450. 


granted  to  Alexander  Home  of  Manderston,  and 
came  to  Alexander  Cockburn's  son,  who  married 
Margaret  Home. 

The  first  Alexander  Hep- 
burne  of  Quhitsun  was  the 
brother  of  Patrick,  first 
Lord  Hales,  whose  pro- 
genitor Patrick,  Dominus 
de  Hallis  et  Aldhamstokkis, 
has  been  mentioned  as 
father  of  Marjorie,  the 
second  wife  of  Sir  Alex- 
ander Cockburn  of  Lang- 
ton,  Gustos  Magni  Sigilli  in 
1390.  Agnes  Hepburn, 
daughter  of  Adam,  younger  of  Hales,  married  Wil- 
liam, fourth  Lord  Livingston,  and  was  ancestress  of 
Sir  William  Cockburn,  the  first  Baronet  of  Lang- 
ton's  wife,  Helen  Elphinstone. 

Alexander  Cockburn  died  loth  March  1583,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  William,  whom,  by 
his  will,  he  appointed  executor  along  with  his 
mother  Helen,  naming  as  oversmen  William  Cock- 
burn  of  Langton,  George 
Cockburn,  his  own  brother- 
german,  and  David  Sinclair 
of  Blanss.  He  had  a  son 
James,  who  got  letters  of 
legitimation  from  the  King, 
1574.  In  consequence  of  his 
match  with  this  heiress  of 
the  House  of  Hepburne,  he 

Seal  of  Alexander  Cockburn 

of  that  ilk,  A.D.  1570.         placed     a     chevron     between 
three   cocks  contourne  on  his   coat,  as  shown  upon 

x  i 


Sir  Bernard 
Burke's 
Extinct 
Peerage,  p. 


Edin.  Reg.  of 
Testaments, 
vol.  12. 


Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  2363. 


3i6 

this  copy  of  his  somewhat  rude  seal,  which  pre- 
sents a  great  contrast  to  the  well  -  cut  one  of  Sir 
Patrick  Hepburn.  It  may  have  been  of  lead, 
and  manufactured  at  Dims.  These  arms  continued 
to  be  borne  by  his  descendants. 

Helen  Hepburne,  his  widow,  died  at  Cockburn 
Castle  1 2th  August  1587.  Her  will  was  dated  four 
.  of  days  previously.  She  bequeathed  to  her  daughters 
minis,  voi  aa  Margaret  and  Marion  certain  sums  of  money  due  to 
her  by  Jane  Hepburne,  Lady  Polwarth,  her  sister, 
and  named  George,  her  husband's  brother  [and 
executor],  her  own,  along  with  Patrick,  her  younger 
son.  After  the  Reformation  her  brother  Thomas 
Hepburne  was  the  first  minister  of  Oldhamstocks, 
of  which  parish  the  greater  portion  had  belonged  to 
his  father.  He  was  appointed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  4th  July  1562,  with  Mr.  Patrick  Cock- 
burn,  a  son  of  William  of  Choicelee,  and  Mr.  David 
Lindsay  "  to  preache  in  the  implanted  kirks  of  the 
Merse  their  moneth  by  the  course."  Thomas  Hep- 
burne took  the  historical  silver  casket,  as  a  trusted 
messenger,  containing  Queen  Mary's  songs  and 
letters,  but  was  waylaid,  and  it .  thus  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Confederate  Lords.  In  1576  he  in- 
curred the  severe  reprimand  of  the  Kirk  Assembly, 
and  was  suspended,  on  account  of  his  opinions  and 
the  boldness  of  his  utterance  of  them.  He  came  of 
a  loyal  race,  whose  name  was  tarnished  only  by  the 
Earl  of  Bothwell,  and  resented  the  teaching  and  pro- 
ceedings of  the  adversaries  of  Mary  Stuart. 

Helen's  sons  were  wild  young  men,  and  her 
youngest  and  evidently  most  trusted  son  Patrick, 
although  he  seems  to  have  been  at  one  time,  as  well 
as  his  brother  John,  successful  in  life,  came  to  an 
ignominious  end,  as  will  be  shown  presently. 


In  1588  Patrick  Cockburn,  tutor  of  Langton, 
became  surety,  as  he  appears  constantly  to  have 
been  called  upon  to  be,  for  all  the  delinquents  of  his 
name,  in  the  sum  of  ^"2000  sterling  for  William, 
John,  Alexander,  and  Adam. 

Again,  on  the  i6th  June  1601,  the  three  next  R' 
eldest  brothers  of  William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  vol.  iv.,  P.  27.' 
were  "  dilaitit  for  that  playing  at  the  fute-ball  at 
Lochtoun  [alias  Birgheame]  in  the  Merse  with  John 
Davidson,  called  of  Burnrigg,  and  James  Davidson 
in  Nodday.  They  fell  into  contention  ilk  ane  with 
another,  and  schott  and  dilaschit  pistolettis  and  har-  Ib«t.,  vol.  vL, 
quebuttis.  The  Cockburns  were  assoilzied  because  F 
the  Davidsons  did  not  appear,  and  David  Cockburn 
confessed  to  shooting  of  the  said  pistolett,  and  had 
schott  the  same  in  pursuit  of  James  Davidson  of 
Burnrigg,  a  common  thief  and  fugitive."  It  does 
not  appear  to  have  influenced  the  gentlemen  on  the 
assize  that  they  should  have  been  playing  at  the 
fute-ball  with  such  disreputable  associates.  On  the 
8th  April  1588  old  Patrick  of  East  Borthwick  had, 
along  with  Sir  John  Ker  of  Hirsell,  son  and  heir  of 
Walter  Ker  of  Litildene,  given  bonds  again  "  for 
,£4000  that  Hercules  Stewart  of  Quhitlaw  and  his  Kid.,  vol.  iv., 
tenants  in  Hepburne-Quarter  should  not  suffer  at  p' 2?2' 
the  hands  of  Adam  and  John,  brothers  to  William 
Cockburn  of  that  Ilk."  This  John  was  "  the  fader- 
broder  to  William  Cockburn's  son,"  to  whom  in  his 
will,  dated  1601,  Patrick  of  East  Borthwick  carefully 
mentioned  that  he  owed  xx.  Ib.  for  ane  ox.  He  was 
afterwards  in  an  official  position,  and  a  man  of 
standing.  The  fate  of  his  brother  Patrick,  who  was 
a  Colonel  in  the  Army  and  had  been  knighted,  is 
recorded  by  the  following  document. 

"  Ouer  soveraine  Lord   ordines  ane   lettre  to  be 


maid  under  His  Hienes  Privie  Seal  in  dew  forme  to 
His  Majestie's  lovitt  John  Cokburne,  brother  to 
umquhile  Sir  Patrick  Cokburne,  Lieutennand- 
Colonell,  Knight,  and  servitor  to  His  Majestie's 
trustie  counsellor  Sir  Thomas  Hope  of  Craighall, 
Knight  Baronet,  His  Hienes'  advocate,  his  heirs, 
&c.,  of  the  gift  of  the  escheat  of  all  goods,  movable 
and  unmovable,  dettis,  takkis,  stedings,  &c.  [in  so 
far  as  the  same  may  be  comprehended  within  the 
conviction  after  mentioned],  actions,  dewettis,  re- 
vol"if"m'  versiones,  sentences,  soumes  of  money,  jewallis, 
gold  and  silver,  &c.,  which  pertained  of  before 
to  the  said  deceased  Sir  Patrick  Cokburne,  and  now 
pertaining  to  cure  soverane  Lord,  fallen  into  His 
Hienes  hands  throw  being  of  the  said  umquhile  Sir 
Patrick  Cokburne,  convict  at  Colpholme,  within  the 
kingdom  of  Denmark,  and  there  execute  to  the 
death  for  certane  crymes  mentioned  in  the  said  con- 
viction, &c.,  dated  at  Halyrudhous,  soth  Nov. 
1628."  We  cannot  tell  what  may  have  been  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  the  tragic  fate  of  Sir 
Patrick  at  the  hands  of  the  Danes  ;  possibly  he  may 
have  been  amusing  himself  after  the  fashion  of  the 
old  Vikings. 


in.  lEilliam    OLockburn   of    OLockburn 

married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Alexander  Home  of 
Manderston,  by  his  wife  Janet,  daughter  of  George 
Home  of  Spot  [upon  whose  trial  it  has  been  men- 
tioned his  father  was  one  of  the  jurors],  and  sister  of 
George,  created  Earl  of  Dunbar,  and  of  Janet,  wife 
of  Sir  John  Cockburn,  the  Justice-Clerk,  whose 
interest  had  doubtless  assisted  his  brothers  John 
and  the  unhappy  Sir  Patrick  to  push  their  way. 


On  30th  October  1574  he  had  confirmation  charter 
under  the  Great  Seal  of  James  VI.  of  the  lands  of 
Loch  Birgheame,  alias  Lochtoun,  Willelmo  filio  et 
heredi  apparent!  Alexandri  Cokburn,  filii  et  heredis 
quondam  Willelmi  Cokburn  de  eodem. 

By  marrying  the  daughter  of  Home  of  Mander- 
ston,  to  whom  great  portion  of  his  grandfather's 
lands  in  Whitsun  had  been  granted,  he  got  posses- 
sion of  his  mother's  inheritance  and  other  portions  of 
that  parish.  As  has  been  seen,  his  brothers  had 
troubled  the  tenants  there  ;  but  there  appears  to 
have  been  reason  for  their  taking  the  law  into  their 
own  hands  in  1588,  for  on  i8th  February  in  the 
following  year  there  was  issued  deed  of  gift  dated 
at  Holyrood-house,  "  to  William  Cokburne,  son  to 
William  Cokburne  of  that  Ilk,  of  the  escheat  of  the 
effects  which  pertained  to  Thomas  Johnstoune  in 
Quhitsun,  alias  Hepburne-Quarter,  William  Polwart 
there,  David  Polwart  and  others  there,  which  had  vo1-  lix->  fol- 
fallen  into  the  King's  hands  by  reason  of  their  resist- 
ing the  law,  in  not  removing  from  the  fourteen- 
hundred  lands  in  Quhitsun  pertaining  to  William 
Cokburne  of  that  Ilk. 

They  had  got  holdings  there,  it  is  to  be  supposed, 
from  Hercules  Stewart,  the  natural  brother  of 
Francis,  created  Earl  of  Bothwell,  and  refused  to 
move  when  William  Cockburn  came  into  possession 
of  his  wife's  inheritance.  This  Laird  died  at  "  Cock- 
burn  Castle,"  it  is  recorded,  in  1600,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son — 


iv.   liilliam  Olockburn   of  tfockburn, 

who  remained  in  quiet,  undisturbed    possession   of 


320 


fnyuisit. 


Abbrtv., 
County 
Benvick,  iv., 
200. 

Deeds,  vol 
xiv.,  fol.  165. 


the  greater  part  of  the  parish  of  Whitsome,  as, 
besides  the  lands  which  came  from  his  mother's 
family,  he  appears  to  have  acquired  the  Temple- 
lands,  &c.  there,  which  Sir  Alexander,  Keeper  of 
the  Great  Seal,  got  with  his  wife,  Mariota  Hepburne, 
and  had  been  conveyed  to  the  Cockburns  of  Choice- 
lee  by  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  to  whom 
they  had  descended.  On  3d  November  1608  he 
was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  in  the  lands  of  May- 
schiel,  County  Berwick,  having  been  served  heir 
to  Cockburn  soon  after  his  death  in  1 600. 

By  his  wife  Elizabeth  Kinked  [Kincaid]  he  had  a 
son,  John,  and  two  daughters,  Jean  and  Elizabeth, 
who  married  in  1620  Alexander  Home,  son  of  Adam, 
first  Protestant  Rector  of  Polwarth,  who  was  the  son 
of  Sir  Patrick  Home  of  Polwarth  and  Kimmerghame, 
by  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Patrick  Hep- 
burne  of  Waughton,  and  so  related  to  the  Cockburns 
of  Ormiston. 


Swintons  of 
that  Ilk,  Ap- 
pendix, p. 
clxxviii. 


V.  #0f)tt  Cockburn  Of  Cofkburn  succeeded 
his  father.  On  2Oth  March  1628  Robert  Cockburn 
of  Blackismylne  [son  of  Sir  James  of  Langton], 
sheriff  in  that  part  of  the  county,  held  a  court  at 
Dunse,  when  John  Swynton  of  Swynton  was  specially 
served  heir  to  his  father  Robert  in  the  Lordship  of 
Swintoun.  The  service  was  made  before  "  Domi- 
num  Patricium  Home  de  Ayton  militem,  Johannem 
Home  de  Blacader  militem,  Dominum  Georgium 
Ramsay  de  Wyliecleuch  militem,  Robertum  Edzeare 
de  Wedderlie,  Davidem  Lummisden  de  Blanerne 
Georgium  Trotter  seniorem  de  Prentonnane,  Johan- 
nem Renton  de  Billie,  Jacobum  Renton  de  Lamer- 


321 

toune,    Jokannem    Cockburn    juniorem    de    eodem, 
Jacobum  Cockbiirn  de  Ryslay,  &c. 

Again  on  2d  May  1630,  at  another  court  held  at 
Dunse  by  the  same  Robert  Cockburn,  deputy- 
sheriff,  John  Swynton  was  retoured  heir  to  his 
grandfather,  Sir  John  Swynton,  when  Patrick  Cock- 
burn  of  Caldra  or  Cadra  was  present ;  he  was  cousin-  Appendix,  P. 
german  of  James  of  Ryslaw.  On  i6th  February  dxxix' 
1632  the  same  John  Swynton  had  another  re  tour  to 
his  father  before  William  Cockburn  de  eodem, 
Patrick  of  Caldra,  and  Patrick  Cockburn  of  East 
Borthwick,  &c.  He  died  soon  after,  and  his  brother 
Alexander  Swynton  was  served  heir  before  a  special 
jury  at  Dunse,  2d  May  1633. 

Those  present  were  Domini  David  Home  of 
Wedderburn,  Patrick  Home  of  Ayton,  John  Home 
of  Blackadder,  William  Cockburn  of  Langton, 
Knights,  Master  Thomas  Nicolsone,  advocate  before 
the  Lords  of  the  Council  and  Session,  Master  James 
Baird,  advocate,  John  Cockburn  of  Cockburn,  James 
Nicolsone  of  Colbrandspeth,  Patrick  Lumisdeane  of 
Blanerne,  James  Renton  of  Billie,  John  Edzeare  of 
Wedderlie,  and  several  others. 

Since  the  assize  two  years  before,  besides  John 
Swinton  himself,  a  number  of  those  then  present 
had  died,  and  their  sons  appear  in  their  place. 
Robert  Edzeare,  David  Lumsden,  John  Renton, 
were  amongst  the  deceased,  and  John  Cockburn  had 
come  into  his  father's  possessions.  He  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Spottiswoode, 
minister  of  Longformacus,  and  had  four  sons, 
William,  James,  Thomas,  and  Alexander — and  three 
daughters,  Margaret,  Catherine,  and  Anna.  By  his  commas,  of 
will,  dated  ist  June  1655,  at  "  his  place  of  Cockburn," 


322 


part  vi.,  p.  29. 


he  ordained  that  "his  eldest  son  and  executor, 
William,  should  give  entertainment  to  Patrick  and 
Jean,  his  brother  and  sister,  sua  lang  as  they  live." 

He  died  in  the  following  year.  Anna,  his 
youngest  daughter,  married  Patrick  Home  of  Hut 
tonhall.  He  was  the  son  of  Sir  John  Home  of 
North  Berwick,  who  bought  Tullycastle,  in  Ireland, 
having  sold  his  estate  of  North  Berwick.  This 
Anna  has  been  mistaken  for  another  young  lady  of 
the  same  name,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Patrick 
Cockburn  of  East  Borthwick,  and  niece  of  Sir  David 
Home  of  Crossrig,  "  ex-merchant  and  brewer,"  who, 
™  to  his  own  surprise,  seeing  that,  as  he  said,  he  knew 
but  jjtt]e  of  jaw>  was  macje  a  judge.  His  idea 

apparently  was,  that  might  makes  right,  so  he  got 
letters  of  tutory  for  Anna,  which  he  naively  said 
"  cost  him  a  considerable  sum  before  he  fingered  any 
of  her  money,"  removed  her  from  Langton  to  his 
own  house,  and  educated  her  at  small  expense.  In 
1690  Alexander  Cockburn  paid  9000  merks,  secured 
to  her  by  a  bond  from  her  father.  When  accounts 
were  called  for,  Sir  David  "  could  not  condescend 
upon  any  quota,  but  was  inclined  to  think,  so  far  as 
his  memory  could  serve  him,  that  he  had  expended 
for  her  considerably  less  than  he  had  received."  It 
so  happened  that  Sir  David's  "lodging  "had  been 
burned  and  her  deeds  lost,  and  her  claims  were  the 
subject  of  inquiry  before  the  Court  of  Session. 
Notwithstanding  "  the  loss  of  her  writs,  decree  was 
given  in  her  favour  in  1703." 

Catherine,  second  daughter   of   John    Cockburn, 

...  -ITT  .«  , 

died  unmarried.  Her  will  was  proved  28th  October 
1653  by  "William  Cockburn,  now  of  that  Ilk,"  her 
brother  and  only  executor. 


Testaments, 

vol.  7. 


323 


[nquisit. 


vii.  llSUliam   Cockburn  of  Olockburn 

was  retoured  heir  to  his  father  in  the   lands  and 
barony   of   Cockburn    i3th    November    1656.     On        u 
2oth  March  of  the  following  year,  sasine  was  given  xxiv->  74- 
"  to  his   brother-german,   James   Cockburn,   of  the 
said  lands  and  barony  by  William  Cockburn  of  that  Parti.  Reg. 
Ilk."    Why   he    made    this    disposition    does    not  voL^joi 
appear.      He  was  unmarried,  and  possibly   in   bad 
health,  as  he  died  in  1659. 


vin.   3amcs    Cockburn   of    Cockburn 

married  Grissell  Hay.  They  had  a  large  family. 
Being  a  goldsmith  in  that  city,  the  baptisms  of  his 
children  were  registered  in  the  Edinburgh  books. 
It  may  be  well  to  give  these  records,  which  appear 
to  settle  certain  disputed  points  : — • 

zyth  Dec.  1660.  James  Cockburn,  merchant,  and  Grissell  Hay  ; 
a  son,  Alexander,  died  young. 

nth  Sept.  1662.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay ;  a  son,  William  Walter,  Earl  of  Glen- 
cairn,  &c.  witnesses. 

nth  June  1664.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell  Hay; 
a  daughter,  Agnes.  She  married  Alex- 
ander Brown  of  Thornydykes,  County 
Berwick,  which  place  was  once  the  pos- 
session of  the  ancient  family  of  French. 

nth  May  1665.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay ;  a  daughter,  Christine. 

3d  April  1666.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay ;  a  daughter,  Grissell. 

2ist  June  1667.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay  ;  a  daughter,  Isabel. 

2d   Sept.    1668.  James   Cockburn   of   that    Ilk   and   Grissell 
Hay ;  a  son,  James. 
Y  I 


324 

24th  Sept.  1669.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay  ;  a  daughter,  Bethia. 

25th  Feb.  1672.  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay ;  a  daughter,  Elizabeth. 

29th  Jan.  1674.  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  and  Grissell 
Hay;  a  daughter,  Grissell. 

22d  April  1675.  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk,  Knight  and 
Baronet,  and  Dame  Grissell  Hay,  his 
spouse ;  a  son,  John,  who  was  afterwards 
Chamberlain  to  Lord  Oxford.  He  married 
Marion,  daughter  of  James  Cunningham 
of  Cunninghame  -  head,  and  had  several 
children. 

It  thus  appears  that  it  was  between  the  years 
1672  and  1674  that  James  Cockburn  of  Cockburn, 
goldsmith  and  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  is  first  given  a 
titular  distinction  in  these  registers.  He  had  large 
claims  upon  the  Langton  estates,  and  it  is  very 
probable  that  Sir  Archibald,  Baronet  of  Langton, 
and  his  son  Archibald,  thinking  they  had  the  power 
of  doing  so,  made  a  disposition  of  the  Baronetcy,  as 
well  as  the  hereditary  office  of  "  Ostiarius  Parlia- 
ment!," along  with  the  barony  of  Langton  and  other 
estates,  in  warrandice  of  the  bonds  they  granted,  and 
James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  assumed  the  title  accord- 
ingly. Sir  John  Campbell  of  Glenorchy,  father-in- 
law  of  Archibald  Cockburn,  heir-apparent  of  Lang- 
ton,  three  or  four  years  after  James  Cockburn 
appears  styled  Knight  and  Baronet,  seems  to  have 
thought  that  he  could  acquire  in  the  same  manner 
the  honours  of  the  Sinclairs,  Earls  of  Caithness. 
George,  the  sixth  Earl,  was  largely  indebted  to  him, 
and  assigned  to  him  his  titles  along  with  his  estates. 
For  a  time  after  his  death  he  was  styled  Earl  of 
Caithness,  but  this  being  disallowed,  was  created 


325 

Earl  of  Breadalbane.  He  married  the  widow  of  the 
Lord  Caithness  who  died  in  1676,  so  stood  alto- 
gether in  that  unlucky  Earl's  place. 

As  mentioned  in  the  account  of  the  Cockburns  of 
Ormiston,  it  is  stated  in  Douglas'  and  Burke's 
Peerages  that  Henry,  eighth  Lord  Sinclair,  married 
Grizel,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Cock- 
burn  in  1680.  According  to  the  above  record  of 
their  baptisms,  the  elder  child,  who  bore  this  name, 
would  then  have  been  fourteen  years  of  age,  but  she 
had  probably  died,  as  there  was  a  second  daughter 
called  Grissell,  who  would  be  but  six  years  old  at 
the  time  of  the  said  marriage.  In  the  Edinburgh 
registers  of  births  and  marriages,  Lord  Sinclair's 
wife  is  called  Barbara  Cockburn,  a  daughter  of  the 
Laird  of  Ormiston.  Although  James  Cockburn  of 
Cockburn  styled  himself  Knight  and  Baronet  in 
these  two  baptismal  registers,  and  in  deeds  issuing 
at  his  own  instance,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
recognised  as  the  possessor  of  any  such  dignities 
when  he  died  ;  nor  was  any  title  given  to  him  in 
documents  in  the  public  records  executed  after 
1672,  in  which  year  he  seems  to  have  assumed  the 
distinction,  except  in  one  list  of  Commissioners  for 
the  county  of  Berwick  in  1678,  in  which,  by  a  clerical  Acts  of  the 
error  probably,  he  is  called  Sir  James.  Scotland" 

He  had  sasine  on  precept  from  Chancery,  dated  vol>  "•• p- 1S5' 
at   Whitehall,    nth    July   1670,    of  the    lands  and  part.Reg.of 
barony  of  Dunse,  purchased  from  Home  of  Ayton.  %%%£ 
Several  charters  of  small   properties  in  that  town  Berwick, 

vol.  2,  p.  24!. 

were  signed  by  him  at  the  Castle  of  Dunse.     There  Ibid ^  vol_  3> 
was  one  in   1672   to    Bethia  Cockburn,  another  in  foi.i3;voL 

'  4,  fols.  34  and 

1677    to    James    Cockburn,    settlements   seemingly  276;  vol.  8, 
upon  his  children  so  named.     Another  in   1681  was  5*0! 2> 


Edinburgh 
Keyster  of 
Marriages. 


Inquisitiones 
Generous, 
No.  8264. 


Part.  Keg. 
o/Sasines, 
vol.  6,  fol.  371 


Ibid.,  vol.  7. 
fol.  3- 


Ibid.,  vol.  7, 
fol.  3. 


326 

to     "his    brother  -  german,    Alexander    Cockburn, 
apothecary  in  Dunse,  and  Jean  Whyt,  his  spouse 
The  marriage  of  Katherine,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
deceased    James  Cockburn  of  that    Ilk,    to    David 
Wilson,    son    to    the   deceased    George  Wilson    oi 
Finzeoch,  was  registered   nth  October  1702. 
father  is  neither  styled  Knight  or  Baronet  m  this 
register,  nor  in  the  record  of  the  marriage  of  ' 
beth    daughter  to   the  deceased    James   Cockburn, 
goldsmith,  of  Edinburgh,  on  28th  January  1700,  to 
John  Hepburn,  younger  of  Humbie,  merchant   of 
Edinburgh." 

ix.  TOlliam    lEorkburn   of   dorkburn 

was  retoured  2ist  December  1700  "haeres  Jacobi 
Cockburne  de  eodem  nuper  thesaurii  tabernse  argen- 
tariae  regni  Scotise." 

On  2 1  st  August  1702  sasine  was  given  on  pre- 
cept from  Chancery  in  favour  of  William  Cockburn, 
now  of  that  Ilk,  of  the  just  and  equal  half  of  an 
annual  rent  of  1800  merks  out  of  the  lands  and 
barony  of  Langton,  in  which  James  Cockburn,  father 
to  the  said  William,  died  vest  and  seized. 

He  married,  igth  April  1701,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  David  Hepburn  of  Humbie.  Her  brother 
John,  as  seen  above,  was  married  to  his  own  sister 
Elizabeth. 

On  the  27th  December  1704  sasine  was  given  on 
disposition  by  William  Cockburn,  eldest  lawful  son 
of  the  deceased  James  Cockburn,  goldsmith,  of  Edin- 
burgh, with  consent  of  Elizabeth  Hepburne,  his  wife, 
of  an  annual  rent  of  1 200  merks,  effeiring  out  of  the 
principal  sum  of  ^20,000  out  of  the  lands  and 


327 

barony  of  Langton,  granted  by  heritable  bond  by 
the  deceased  Mr.  Archibald  Cockburn,  younger  of 
Langton,  5th  March  1689,  and  of  another  bond 
granted  in  corroboration  by  Sir  Archibald  Cockburn 
of  Langton,  miles  et  Baronettus,  loth  March  1690; 
and  mention  is  made  of  a  decreet  of  adjudication 
from  "  the  Lords  of  Council  and  Session  "  obtained 
by  the  said  James  Cockburn,  goldsmith,  of  Edin- 
burgh, against  Sir  Archibald,  upon  these  bonds,  24th 
February  1694.  There  is  no  prefix  given  to  the 
names  of  James  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk,  or  William 
his  son,  in  any  of  those  deeds,  nor  in  one  dated  7th 
May  1706,  when  William  Cockburn  of  that  Ilk  wit- 
nessed a  deed  of  sasine  to  his  brother-in-law,  John 
Hepburn,  younger  of  Humbie,  of  "  the  town  and  Pan.  Reg. 
lands  of  Johnston  "and  others,  in  the  constabulary  of  £iKntwsk, 
Haddington.  This  John  Hepburn  and  his  wife  Eliza-  ]°\71' foL 
beth  Cockburn  had  a  daughter  Magdalen,  baptised  Edin.Reg.of 
in  1703.  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  and  William, 
son  to  the  deceased  "  James  Cockburn,  goldsmith,  of 
Edinburgh,"  were  the  witnesses.  This  designation 
is  always  given  in  deeds  executed  in  the  city  of 
Edinburgh. 

The  operations  of  Sir  Archibald  of  Langton 
brought  down  not  only  his  own  but  all  the  other 
families  of  his  race  in  the  Merse.  On  25th  April 
1706  "  Guillelmus  Cockburn,  films  Jacobi  Cockburn  charter  of 

,  ,     .  .  „  T-  T    i  i        Cockburn  to 

de   eodem,  fabn.  aurati,     executed  at   Edinburgh,  sirjam 
under  a  decreet  of  the  Court  of  Session,  deed  of  sale  s'"art' 
of  the  barony  of  Cockburn  and  Wester  Winschelis 
to   Sir  James  Stewart,  Baronet  of  Goodtrees,  who 
disposed  of  the  same  in  1710  to  Sir  Robert  Sinclair, 
Baronet  of  Stevenson,  in  liferent,  and  to  his  eldest 
son,  Robert,  in  fee.     Sasine  was  given  i3th  Sep- 


328 

tember  1715.  The  charter  was  confirmed  by  the 
Earl  of  Lauderdale  [now  over-lord].  Both  Sir  James 
Stewart  and  Sir  Robert  Sinclair  were  nearly  related 
to  the  Cockburns  of  Langton.  Thus  passed  away 
the  old  estate,  and  the  name  of  Cockburn  of  Cock- 
burn  "ceased  from  the  land."  William  Cockburn 
had  by  his  wife  Elizabeth  Hepburne  an  only  son, 
James,  and  four  daughters,  Jean,  Helen,  Elizabeth, 
and  Isobel.  He  married,  secondly,  Helen  Lear- 
month. 

He  made  a  disposition,  dated  at  Dalkeith  i2tn 
Officke!nvzl  March  1748,  of  his  whole  heritable  and  moveable 
I77'  estate  in  favour  of  Ensign  James  Cockburn,  his  only 

son;  whom  failing,  to  Jean,  Helen.  Elizabeth,  and 
Isobel,    his   daughters  ;    he  excepted  his  household 
furniture,  plate,  &c.,  disponed  to  Helen  Learmonth, 
his   spouse.      James,  his  son,  got  a    precept   from 
Chancery,  dated  5th  March   1756,  giving  directions 
for  sasine  "  in  favour  of  Sir  James  Cockburn,  now  of 
Cockburn,  Baronet,  as  heir  to  his  deceased  father, 
Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Cockburn,  Baronet,  and  of 
Sir   James    Cockburn    of  Cockburn,     Baronet,    his 
grandfather,  of  the  lands  and   barony  of  Langton, 
and   also  in    the   lands    of  Borthwick,    Easter   and 
Wester   Wolfeland,    Grueldykes,  Cumledge,    Burn- 
houses,  Oxidin,  Easter  Wenschelis,  &c.,  the  lands  of 
Simprim  and  others,  in  warrandice  and  security  of 
sums  of  money  to  the  said  Sir  James  and  William 
contained  in  a  bond  of  date  i  ith  January  1690,  regis- 
tered in  books  of  Council  and  Session  22d  October 
1 74 1,  granted  by  Sir  Archibald  and  Archibald  Cock- 
burns  of  Langton,  senior  and  junior,  &c."     Sasine 
was  taken  26th,  27th,  and  28th  February  1756,  and 
then  followed  the  sale  of  all  the  estates. 


329 

It  is  noticeable  that  in  this  deed,  obtained  by  his 
own  lawyers    from    the    Court,    whilst   the    title    of 
Baronet  is  so  conspicuously  given  to  himself  and  his 
two  predecessors,  it  is  not  bestowed  upon  the  head 
of  the    house    of  Langton,   whose   heir  young   Sir 
James'  right  to  the  destination   was  probably  now 
disputed  by  James,  who  still  was  called  of  Cockburn, 
which  was  sold  in  1 706.     The  simple  Dominus  given  Part-  Res- 
in  the  deed  to  Sir  Archibald,  Baronet  of  Langton,  and  County  Ber- 
the  Miles  Baronettus  to  himself,  and  also  to  his  father  foi^t.    '3> 
and  grandfather,  are  suggestive,  and  strengthen  the 
supposition  that  the  Cockburns  of  Cockburn  ima- 
gined they  had  acquired  the  title  by  right  of  conquest. 
No  such  distinctions  are,  however,  given  to  any  one 
of  them  in  the  deed  of  sasine  from  William  Cock-  /^-voi.  7, 

fol.  3. 

burn  of  that  Ilk  in  December  1 704,  nor  in  the  sasine 
upon  precept  from  Chancery  of  the  lands  and 
barony  of  Dunse  to  James  Cockburn  i5th  Sep- 
temberi67o.  %%? *' 

This  estate  of  Dunse,  with  its  castle,  &c.,  purchased 
as  mentioned  from  the  Homes  of  Ayton  by  James 
Cockburn,  who  married  Grissell  Hay,  was  bought  at 
the  judicial  sale  of  his  son's  estates  by  Alexander 
Hay  of  Drummelzier,  grandson  of  the  first  Earl  of 
Tweeddale. 

James  Cockburn  the  younger,  above  mentioned, 
left  one  son,  William,  who  died  in  1810.  He  was 
much  esteemed  for  his  amiable  qualities,  and  was 
on  friendly  relations  with  his  distant  kinsman  and 
chief,  Sir  James,  Baronet  of  Langton.  He  was 
unmarried,  and  did  not  assume  any  title.  One 
thing  is  certain,  namely,  that  if  a  hereditary  title 
was  conferred  upon  this  branch — of  which,  however, 
there  is  no  record — it  could  not  possibly  have 


330 

descended  to  the  son  of  Sir  James  Cockburn  of  Rys- 
law,  Knight,  who,  as  proved  by  his  own  will  and  the 
records  under  the  Great  Seal  referred  to  in  the 
memoir  of  the  family  of  Choicelee,  was  a  younger 
son  of  William  Cockburn  of  that  place,  in  no  way 
related  to  the  Cockburns  of  Cockburn,  except  by 
common  descent  from  the  patriarch  of  the  race,  and 
by  marrying  into  the  same  Border  families. 

The  Cockburns  of  Cockburn  bore  argent,  between 
three  cocks  conturnee  gules,  a  chevron  of  the  same. 


COCKBURN  OF  TORRY,  DALGINCHE, 
AND  TRETTOUN,  FIFESHIRE. 


Coat  of  Cockbum  of  Trattoun, 

as  blazoned  by  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount, 

A.D.   1542. 

THIS  is  the  earliest  cadet  of  the  House  of  Cock- 
burn  of  that  Ilk,  in  Berwickshire,  and  perhaps 
should  have  been  placed  first ;  but  as  all  the  other 
families  noticed  were  offshoots  from  the  main  stem 
of  Langton  after  that  place  became  the  seat,  it 
seemed  more  convenient  to  mention  them  consecu- 
tively in  the  order  in  which  they  took  beginning. 

To  matches  with  heiresses  of  great  Norman 
Houses  the  fortunes  of  the  two  oldest  families  of  the 
name  were  mainly  due. 

The  Cockburns  in  the  south  quartered  with  their 
paternal  coat  that  of  de  Veteri-Ponte,  from  which 
historical  family  came  Langton,  Carriden,  and 
Bolton  Baronies ;  whilst  those  established  in  the 
county  of  Fife  getting  Torry,  Dalginche,  &c.,  with 
the  hand  of  an  heiress  of  the  distinguished  House  of 

z  i 


332 


Origtnes 
Parochiales, 
vol.  i.,  p.  121. 


Chronica  dt 
Afailros,  p. 
'35- 


de  Valoniis  or  Valoynes  quartered  with  the  three 
cocks  gules  upon  an  argent  field;  its  armorial  bear- 
ings azure,  three  water-boiigets  or. 

The  Wardlaws  of  Lochor,  acquiring  that  estate 
by  marriage  with  another  heiress  of  the  same  family, 
likewise  quartered  this  coat  with  their  own,  but 
differenced  the  tinctures,  placing  sable  water-bougets 
upon  a  field  argent,  sometimes  or.  This  was  the 
well-known  coat  of  de  Ros  or  Roos.  Why  or  when 
the  Fifeshire  families  of  Valoniis  adopted  the  arms 
of  this  House  instead  of  those  borne  by  their 
ancestors  in  England,  as  well  as  by  that  potential 
Scottish  branch  whose  heiress,  Cristiana,  will  be 
mentioned  presently,  i.e.,  argent  three  pallets  wavy 
gules,  is  not  recorded.  Representatives  of  both 
the  races  of  de  Ros  and  de  Valoynes  are  found 
the  north  about  the  same  time.  An  inquest 


in 


was  held  at  Lanark  before  William  the  Lion  to 
determine  as  to  the  advowson  of  the  Church  of  Kil- 
bryde,  in  dispute  between  Joceline,  Bishop  of 
Glasgow,  and  Roger  de  Valoins.  The  bond  of  the 
same  monarch  "  to  pay  to  his  lord,  John,  King  of 
England,  15,000  marks  for  having  the  goodwill  of 
his  said  Lord  the  King  of  England,  and  fulfilling 
the  conventions  between  them,"  was  witnessed  by 
William  and  Robert  de  Veteri-Ponte,  Philip  de 
Valoynes,  and  Robert  de  Ros.  This  Philip  de 
Valoniis,  or  Valoynes,  was  Great  Chamberlain  of 
Scotland,  in  which  office  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  William  de  Valoniis,  who  died  at  "  Kelchou  " 
in  1218,  and  "contra  bene  placitum  monachorum 
ejusdem  domus,"  his  body  was  brought  to  Melrose, 
and  honourably  interred  hard  by  the  tomb  of  his 
father  in  1219. 


333 


This  Sir  William's  daughter  and  sole  heiress, 
Cristiana,  carried  his  estates,  Mr.  Nisbet  says,  to  her 
husband  Sir  Peter  de  Maule  in  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  Alexander  II.  One  of  these  estates  was 
Panmure.  This  does  not  agree  with  another 
account  of  the  Maules,  which  gives  them  Panmure 
at  a  considerably  earlier  date.  Sir  James  Balfour 
says—"  Philipe  de  Maulea,  Knight  Chamberer  to 
King  Duncan  II.,  by  quhom,  in  ye  beginning  of  the 

second  zeire  of 
his  rainge,  he 
was  made  Grate 
Constable  of 
Scotland.  This 
same  Philipe  de 
Maulea  had  by 
ye  donatione  of 
this  King,  A°  2 
regni,  ye  landes 
of  Panmure  in 
Angus  shyre. 
Gilchrist,  Earle 
of  Angus,  Alex- 
ander ye  Kingis 
brother,  Gille- 
riche,  and  divers  vthers  were  witnesses  to  this 
charter  of  donatione."  We  must  suppose  Sir  James 
had  seen  this  old  charter,  as  he  was  Lyon  King-of- 
Arms,  and  had  no  doubt  access  to  the  muniment 
rooms  of  the  principal  families,  and  had  inspected 
deeds  which  have  never  been  brought  to  light  since. 
Looking  at  the  beautiful  manner  in  which  the  most 
ancient  ones  are  written,  every  reliance  is  to  be 
placed  upon  their  correctness. 


Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
edit.  1722, 
p.  267. 


Catalogue  of 
the  Grate 
Constables  of 
Scotland  since 
ye  zeire  of 
King  Malcolm 
ye  id. 


Seal  of  Philip  de  Valoniis, 
Great  Constable,  1170. 


334 

Cristiana  de  Valoyns  was  an  influential  personage. 

Besides  possessing  the  territories  of  her  own  family, 

Bain's  she  was  coheir  with  Alexander  de  Balliol  of  Robert 

Sfifto.      de  Valoynes,  and  her  name,  as  widow  of  Sir  Piers 

[or  Petrus]  de  Maulea,  frequently   appears  in  the 

records  of  the  time.       If  she  married  him   in  the 

beginning  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  II.,  she  must 

have   been   well    advanced    in    years   when,    before 

going  beyond  seas  in   May  1275,  she  empowered 

Peter,  son   of  John,  and    Robert    of    Feltham,   to 

appoint  attorneys  in  her  name  for  a  year;  but  as 

ibid.,  she  was  alive  twenty  years  after  this,  it  seems  more 

Nos.45, 5"-    probable  that  her  marriage  took  place  towards  the 

end  of  Alexander's  reign. 

In  1238  Henry  III.  granted  to  David  Comyn 
and  Isabella  his  wife  that  they  might  pay  one-half 
at  the  feast  of  St.  John  Baptist  next,  and  the  other 
half  at  Michaelmas,  of  certain  sums  of  money  for 
ibid.,  vol.  i.,  which  Henry  de  Balliol  and  Lora  his  wife,  and 
Peter  de  Maune  and  Cristiana  his  wife,  made  a  fine 
with  the  King  for  their  relief  of  certain  manors, 
which  were  Gunnora  de  Valoynes'. 

The  English  monarch  encouraged  agriculture,  and 
gave  a  bonus  to  those  who  were  enterprising  in  that 
pursuit.  Two  years  after  this  it  is  recorded  that 
"  the  King  pardoned  to  Henry  de  Balliol  and  Lora 
ibid.,  vol.  i.,  his  wife  £31  :ii:9  demanded  from  them  in  Ex- 
chequer for  1 80  acres  sown  with  wheat,  and  fourteen 
acres  sown  with  wheat  and  rye,  in  the  Manor  of 
Beniton,  with  the  labour  of  ploughing,  and  for  35 
acres  and  one  rood  sown  with  wheat,  Sec.,  in  the  third 
part  of  the  Manor  of  Hecham,  which  manors  they 
hold  of  the  Honour  of  Valoines." 

In  1280  Edward  I.  signified  to  the  Barons  that  as 


335 
some  of  the  heirs  of  Valoines  are  in  England  and 

o 

some  in  Scotland,  whereby  they  cannot  easily  arrange 
how  to  pay  their  debts  to  the  Exchequer,  the  King,  Bain's 
at  the  request  of  Cristiana  de  Valoynes,  one  of  them,  § 
gives  respite  till  the  Octaves  of  Trinity  next,  that 
meantime  they  may  deliberate. 

Although  one  influential  branch  ended  with  this 
Cristiana,  the  two  Fifeshire  ones  continued  in  posses- 
sion of  Torry  and  Lochor,  &c.  for  some  time.  The 
names  of  Adam  de  Valoniis  and  of  William  de 
Valoniis  [or  Valoynes j  were  added  to  the  deed  of 
homage  28th  August  1296,  along  with  those  of  Hewe 
de  Loghore,  and  other  men  belonging  to  that  county. 
Sir  Constantine  de  Loghor  or  Lochor,  Sheriff  of 
Fife,  had  sworn  fealty  I7th  July  1291.  His  brother's 
name  was  Philip.  We  do  not  know  of  what  race 
these  barons  of  Lochor-shire,  Torry,  &c.  were,  from 
whom  the  lands  came  to  the  Valoniis  by  marriage  it 
is  stated.  They  may  have  been  of  that  of  de  Ros, 
taking  name  from  their  principal  territory,  and  still 
carrying  the  ancestral  water-bougets  as  their  coat  of 
arms. 

There  was  a  Philip  de  Valoniis  who,  some  years 
after  his  namesake  Philip  the  Great  Chamberlain, 
was  buried  at  Melrose,  "  per  concessum  Domini 
Regis  accepit  in  uxorem,"  Ada  de  Baliol,  the  widow 
of  Walter  de  Lindsei,  "  contra  ipsius  voluntatem," 
because  they  were  within  the  third  or  fourth  degree 
of  consanguinity,  "  vel  affinitatis  propinqui ;"  where- 
fore the  said  Philip  went  to  Rome  and  got  "  a  domino 
papa  dispensacionem  in  contracto  conjugio  perma- 
nendi  prout  ipse  retulit  impetravit."  This  Philip 
was  probably  ancestor  of  the  de  Valoniis  in  Fife. 
John  de  Valoniis  was  sheriff  of  the  county  in  John 


Ballot's  reign,  according  to  Sir  Robert  Sibbald,  who 
v'L?'  S?.b"      says  that  Sir  Andrew  Wardlaw  of  Torrie  got  Wester 

bald's  History          *  & 

»f  Fife,  pp.  Lochorshire  by  marrying  the  eldest  of  the  three 
daughters,  coheiresses  of  Dominus  Jacobus  de 
Valoniis.  Sir  Robert  was  under  a  misapprehension 
as  regards  Torry,  for  that  estate  was  not  then  in  the 
possession  of  the  Wardlaws,  as  will  be  seen  presently. 
The  second  daughter,  he  says,  was  married  to 
Roger  Boisvill,  predecessor  to  Balmuto,  and  her 
portion  was  the  half  of  the  parish  of  Auchtirdiran, 
with  Glasmont  and  Muircambus.  The  third  daughter 
was  the  wife  of  Livingston  of  East-Weems,  who 
got  with  her  the  other  half  of  Auchtirdiran  parish. 

There  seems  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
which  of  the  knightly  Norman  names  became 
changed  into  Vallange,  the  appellation  given  by  some 
writers  to  the  Barons  of  Lochor  and  Torry.  Sir  R. 

Nisbefs          Sibbald  speaks  of  "  de  Valoniis  or  Vallange,"  and 

Heraldry,  ,_          TVT-I  •  i  /-          •        v r   i         • 

P. 417.  Mr.    Nisbet  gives    the   arms   of  "de    Valentia   or 

Valange  in  old  evidents  designed  de  Vallibus." 
There  were  three  families  called  indiscriminately  de 
Vallibus  by  the  writers  of  old  deeds.  It  was  the 
usual  and  proper  rendering  of  Vaux,  which  also  got 
corrupted  into  Waus  or  Wass.  Their  arms  were 
totally  different,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  evidence 
that  Aymar  de  Valence  or  Valentia,  nor  any  of  his 
name,  ever  received  that  of  de  Vallibus. 

The  families  of  de  Valoniis  and  de  Vallibus  were 
powerful  ones  at  the  same  period,  and  the  represen- 
tatives of  both  are  found  in  prominent  positions. 
Contemporary  with  some  of  the  distinguished  per- 
sonages of  the  former,  who  have  been  mentioned, 
were  equally  well-known  ones  of  the  latter. 

Piers  de  Vallibus  gave  the  King  in  the  year  1208 


337 

"five  palfreys  to  have  to  wife  Emma  de  Umfraville, 
who  was  the  wife  of  Walter  Fitz-Gilbert,  if  she  shall 
wish."  In  1 210  Robert  de  Vallibus  "  owed  the  King 
five  best  palfreys  that  the  King  may  be  silent  regard- 
ing Henry  Pinel's  wife."  Sir  John  de  Vallibus, 
brother  and  heir  of  William,  had  to  pay  in  1253  the 
fine  of  80  marks  which  William  made  by  marrying 
Alianora,  daughter  of  William  Ferrers,  Earl  of 
Derby,  without  the  King's  consent.  Roger  de 
Quinci,  Earl  of  Winchester,  was  her  next  husband, 
and  he  made  his  appearance  at  Windsor  on  Friday 
next  after  the  Feast  of  St.  Hilary  in  the  same  year, 
and  placed  himself  in  the  King's  hands  for  300 
marks  for  marrying  Alianora,  widow  of  William  de 
Vallibus,  who  was  in  the  King's  gift,  without  license. 
The  King  pardoned  his  transgression  for  a  fine  of 
five  marks  of  gold.  She  married  thirdly  Roger 
de  Leyburne.  Alianora,  widow  of  Sir  William 
de  Ferreres  [Ferrariis],  "  the  father,"  was  living  in 
1287  at  Elena  de  Zusche's  manor  of  Tranent  [given, 
as  mentioned,  to  Sir  John  de  Monfode  of  Scraling],  Ante,  P.  218. 
when  she  was  violently  carried  ofif  and  married  by 
William  de  Douglas,  who  was  seized  and  imprisoned 
in  irons  in  the  Tower  of  London,  where  he  remained 
for  some  time,  until,  by  paying  a  fine  of  ^100,  the 
King  granted  him  the  marriage  of  Alyanor,  widow 
of  William  de  Ferrars. 

In  1298,  she,  representing  to  Edward  I.  that  her 
husband  William  de  Douglas  "  was  with  God,"  had 
the  Manor  of  Wodeham-Ferrars  and  her  other  dower 
lands  restored  to  her.  In  1303  the  King  granted 
to  his  vallet,  John  de  Wysham  [not  yet  knighted, 
so  it  is  to  be  supposed  quite  a  young  man],  the 
marriage  of  Alyanor  de  Ferreres,  widow  of  Sir  Wil- 


338 

liam  de  Ferreres,  "  the  father,"  a  tenant  in  chief,  and 
William  de  Douglas,  if  she  wished  to  marry.  This 
elderly  lady  appears  to  have  made  up  her  mind  to 
accept  the  young  esquire's  proposal,  as  she  had  her- 
self obtained  license  from  His  Majesty  to  marry 
John  de  Wysham. 

Many  other  notices  of  the  potential  families  of  de 
Valoynes  and  de  Vallibus  are  to  be  found  in  the 
valuable  calendar  of  State  documents  relating  to 
Scotland  so  ably  edited  by  Mr.  Bain.  One  other 
may  be  mentioned  of  the  last-named  house.  In 
October  1300  an  order  was  directed  by  Edward  I.  to 
"Sir  John  Waux,  requiring  him  to  have  Dirleton 
Castle  supplied  with  men  and  provisions,  and  to  see 
that  the  Castellan  thereof  attack  the  enemy  with  all 
force,  and  make  no  truce."  This  knight  is  called 
in  1305  "  Sir  John  de  Vallibus,  Justiciar  beyond  the 
mountains"  for  the  English  monarch,  who  ordered 
him  in  the  following  year  "  to  assist  in  putting  down 
Robert  de  Bruce,  late  Earl  of  Carrik,  and  his  rebel 
accomplices." 

In  this  same  year,  1306,  "the  six  brothers  de 
Halyburton  of  Scotland  show  the  King  that  whereas 
John  Baliol  gave  each  of  them  £20  in  land,  by 
reason  of  the  war  in  Scotland  they  have  been  put 
out  of  their  lands,  and  pray  the  King  to  have  pity 
upon  their  condition,  who  were  always  ready  to  do 
his  pleasure  as  their  Liege- Lord."  Edward  com- 
manded Aymar  de  Valence  to  thank  them  for  their 
good  service,  and  to  assure  them  of  reward  in  good 
time.  The  grandson  of  one  of  these  brothers  was 
the  Sir  John  de  Halyburton  who  fell  fighting  gallantly 
against  the  English  at  the  battle  of  Nisbet-Moor  in 
the  Merse  in  1355.  He  married  the  daughter  of 


339 

William  de  Vallibus,  Lord  of  Dirleton.  From  this 
marriage  descended  the  Halyburtons,  Lords  Dirle- 
ton, who  quartered  the  coat  of  Vaux  or  de  Vallibus, 
—argent  a  bend  gules — with  their  own  ;  sometimes 
the  tincture  of  the  field  was  ermine. 

These  notices  are  sufficient  to  show  that  there  is 
no  lack  of  evidence  to  prove  that  the  families  of  de 
Valoniis  and  de  Vallibus  were  distinct,  and  that  the 
last  was  not  the  correct  designation  of  the  Fifeshire 
barons  from  whom  the  Wardlaws  got  Lochor-shire, 
and  the  Cockburns  Torry. 

There  is  no  evidence  found  as  to  the  date  when 
the  marriage  took  place  between  the  ancestor  of  the 
Fifeshire  Cockburns  and  the  heiress  of  Torry.  In 
an  old  MS.  account  of  the  family,  mention  is  made 
of  an  Adamus  de  Cokburn  de  Torry  as  contem- 
porary of  Piers  de  Cokburn,  whose  name  appears 
on  the  Ragman  Roll.  There  was  an  Adam  Cock- 
burn,  Sir  Piers'  second  son,  who  in  all  probability 
was  the  progenitor  of  this  family,  but  he  did  not 
possess  Torry.  He  was  the  person,  we  may  con- 
clude, spoken  of  as  being  a  prisoner  with  other 
Berwickshire  men  in  Bamborough  Castle,  and  the 
Adam  whose  wife  was  Alina  or  Elyne  de  Prender- 
gest.  The  Prendergests  were  neighbours  of  the 
Cockburns  in  the  Merse  from  remote  times.  Be- 
sides possessing  the  "  vill  de  Prendergest "  and 
other  lands  near  Berwick,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Tweed,  they  held  considerable  estates  in  Northum- 
berland, amongst  them  those  of  Akille  and  Yeure. 

In  1317  Sir  Henry  de  Prendergest  [styled 
Monsire  in  a  document  of  1300]  was  proclaimed  a 
rebel,  and  his  lands  were  declared  forfeited;  but 
they  were  restored  to  him  by  Edward  III.  in  1330. 

A  2 


340 

The  above-named  properties  in  Northumberland  are 
especially  mentioned.  In  1338,  "  when  the  toun  of 
Edinburgh  was  stuffit  with  many  sodgers  baith  of 
Inglis  and  Scottes,  amang  quhom  was  ane  Scot  of 
gret  spirit,  Robert  Prendergest,  and  because  he 
favorit  Scotland  the  Mareschal  called  Thomas 
Kniton  strake  him  sa  violentlie  with  ane  club,  quhill 
the  blud  sprang  out  of  his  heid.  Robert,  movit 
with  the  injurie,  lay  ilk  day  in  wait,  quhill  at  last  he 
slewe  the  Marischall,  and  cam  to  William  Douglas 
the  nerest  way,  and  persuadit  hym  to  pass  with 
diligence  to  Edinburgh.  William  cam  incontinent 
to  the  said  toun,  and  slew  iv.C.  Inglismen  in  thair 
beds  bund  in  wine  and  sleep."  The  family  continued 
to  be  of  consequence  for  at  least  a  century  after  this. 
In  December  1383  Richard  II.  ordered  Michael  de 
la  Pole,  the  Chancellor,  to  issue  letters  in  favour  of 
Thomas  Prendergest  for  life  of  the  forfeited  lands 
of  Sir  Robert  Colvyle,  Knight,  worth  ,£40  sterling 
per  annum,  as  the  said  Thomas  had  lost  his  own 
heritage  in  the  sheriffdom  of  Berwick  during  the 
war.  In  1389  he  is  called  Esquire  to  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  and  had  lease  of  the  manor  of 
Frisby  in  Lincolnshire,  and  an  allowance  of  ten 
marks  for  his  great  outlay  there  in  repairs. 

The  origin  of  the  family  is  unknown,  but  it  is 
at  least  suggestive  that  their  armorial  bearings  were 
the  same  as  those  carried  by  some  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  de  Soulis,  ermine  three  bars,  as  on  the  seal  of 
Sir  Henry  de  Prendergest.  It  is  also  specially 
observable  that  Sir  Thomas  de  Soulis'  seal  bore  a 
bendvi\\h  other  charges,  obliterated  in  the  impres- 
sion of  it  that  was  appended  to  the  deed  of  homage, 
and  that  Henry,  Lord  of  Prendergest,  also  adopted 


Seal  of  Henry  de  Prender- 
gesl,  Miles,  appended  to  his 
charter,  dated  at  Ayton,  A.D. 
1275. 


a  bend  cottised  as  his  device  of  arms.     We  grope 

in  the  dark  in  endeavouring  to  trace  family  relation- 
ships at  this  era.  It  is 
generally  conceded  that  simi- 
larity of  armorial  bearings  is 
the  safest  evidence ;  but  that 
of  peculiar  baptismal  names 
being  found  amongst  near 
neighbours  is  not  altogether 
to  be  disregarded.  Peronel, 
or,  as  latinised,  Petronilla,  wife 
of  Sir  William  de  Veteri-Ponte, 
may  have  been  related  to  the 
bountiful  Peronel  de  Heryng, 
the  Lady  of  Borthwic :  and 
Alina,  the  grandmother  of 
Mariota  de  Veteri  -  Ponte, 
heiress  of  Langton,  may  have 
been  a  Prendergest.  Sir- 
Henry  and  Sir  Piers  de 
Prendergest  both  signed  the 
deed  of  homage,  as  well  as 

the    then  chiefs    of  the  houses  of  de   Veteri-Ponte 

and  Cockburn. 

The  pedigree  of  the  Fifeshire  branch  of  the  family 

who    from  time   immemorial   bore    "  a  cock "  upon 

their  shield,  may  be  deduced  with  apparent  certainty 

from — 


Seal  of  Henry, 
Lord  of  Prendergest, 
A.D.  1325. — (Dur- 
ham Charters.) 


i.  QVbam  &e    (Hokburn   to  ©orrg,  the 

grandson  perhaps  of  the  above  -  mentioned  Adam, 
His  name  appears  as  witness  to  a  deed  in  1385. 
and  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that  he  was  the 


342 

ancestor  who  got  Torry  by  his  match  with  the 
daughter  of  the  then  owner,  a  de  Valoniis,  whose 
predecessor  in  like  manner  is  stated  to  have  gained 
it  with  the  hand  of  the  daughter  and  heiress  of 
one  of  the  family  called  "  de  Lochor,"  or  Loch- 
quhoir,  as  sometimes  written. 

He  was  not  the  Adam  de   Cokburn   who,   with 
Bertram  de  Cokburn,  is  mentioned  as  having  been 
liberated  from  the  Tower  of  London  1 2th  April  1413; 
for  he  was,  we  may  take  for  granted,  the  son  and 
successor  of  John  of  Ormiston,  who  went  with  Sir 
William  of  Langton,  and  was  detained  along  with 
him,  Sir  William  Douglas  of  Dalkeith,  Lindsay,  and 
the  rest,  until  Henry  V.   on  his  accession,  having 
"seen  his  father's  letters,"  ordered  them  all  to  be 
free    to    depart,  and   gave   them    safe  -  conducts    to 
return   to    Scotland,  which  they  did,  leaving  their 
young  King  James  still  behind  them,  who  did  not 
return  until  he  went  north  with  his  fair  bride,  Joanna 
Beaufort,    and    soon    took    strong    measures,    with 
Murdach,  second  Duke  of  Albany,  and  his  family. 
Of  course  there  may  have  been  two  Adam  Cock- 
burns  amongst  the  many  Scottish  persons  of  rank 
then  in  England.     However  this  may  be,  we  may 
take  this  Adam,  called  of  Torry,  to  have  been  the 
father  of — 


Nisbet's 
Heraldry, 
edit.  1722, 
pp.  204-355. 


Rtgistrum 
Cartarum  cfe 
Dumftrmc- 
lyne,  p.  348. 


ii.  &tr  #ol)n  be   (Eokburn   &e 

judge  in  the  matter  of  the  disputed  boundaries 
between  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Abbot  and 
Monks  of  Dunfermline  and  those  of  the  Halkets  of 
Pitferrane.  The  date  of  this  settlement  is  printed 
1237  by  mistake  at  page  355  of  Nisbet. 


343 

Sir  Robert  Sibbald  does  not  allude  to  the  Cock- 
burns  of  Torry  in  his  description  of  the  burgh  of 
Torrie-burn  : — "  Near    to    Torrie-burn,"    he    says, 
"  stands  the  manour  of  Torrie.     'Twas  formerly  in 
the  possession  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Ward-  sir  R.  sib 
laws.       .       .      .       Near   to   this    is    Pitferran,    well  4% 
adorned    with    curious    gardens,    large    parks   and  29'-292- 
meadows,  the  manour  of  the  ancient  family  of  the 
Halkets.     There  is  in  the  Register  of  Dunfermline 
a  contract  betwixt  the  Abbot  of  Dunfermline  and 
David  Halket,  designed  in  some  charters  de   Lus- 
fennen,    de  perambitlatione   terrarum   de  Pitfaran, 
anno  1437." 

It  is  strange  that  Sir  Robert,  having  evidently 
seen  the  document,  does  not  mention  the  prede- 
cessors of  the  Wardlaws  of  Torry,  seeing  that  Sir 
John  de  Cokburn  de  Torry  is  named  in  it  as  judge 
between  the  parties,  and  appended  his  seal  with  the 
family  "  three  cocks,  two  and  one,"  to  the  decreet  of 
judgment.  Sir  John  Cockburn  of  Torry,  who  in 
1413  was  designated  of  Newhall,  possessed  also  the 
dominium  of  Dalginche  held  by  him  from  the  Duke 
of  Albany. 

"  Here  antiently   Malcolm,  Earl  of    Fife,  had  a 
castle,  and  appointed  Dalginche  as  the  capital  place  md.,  PP. 
of  Fife,  at  which  these  accused  of  theft  were  to  find  23°'  3fi4' 
surety  for  sisting  themselves  in  judgement."  The  tenth 
Earl  of  Fife,  according  to  this  historian,  was  Duncan, 
"  who  was   killed,"  he  says,    "  by   the   Abernethie, 
anno  1286."     He  gives  the  names  of  the  wives  of 
many  of  these  old  Earls,  but  apparently  had  not  met 
with  this  Duncan's.     She  was  a  lady  of  the  noble 
family  of  de  Clare,   possessors  of  great  estates  in  Bain's 
England.     On   6th  June   1293   Johanna   de   Clare,  g 


344 

Countess  of  Fife,  gave  bond  to  King  Edward  in 
1000  marks  of  silver  for  his  leave  to  marry.  In 
1299  Patrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  was  commanded  to 
inquire  by  a  jury  of  Berwick,  Roxburgh,  and  Edin- 
burgh into  the  charges  brought  by  her  against 
Herbert  de  Morham  of  Scotland,  who  had  waylaid 
her,  carried  her  off,  and  imprisoned  her  because  she 
Bain's  would  not  marry  him,  and  seized  her  jewels,  horses, 

&c-,  to  the  value  of  ,£2000,  to  her  grave  loss  and 
scandall."  He  took  her  to  his  brother  Thomas  de 
Morham's  house  of  Gertranky,  in  Fife.  Thomas 
was  accustomed  to  meddle  in  such  proceedings ; 
he  was  the  companion  of  William  Douglas  when 
he  carried  off  Alianora,  widow  of  Sir  William  de 
Vallibus. 

The  ward  of  young  Duncan,  the  Countess 
Johanna's  son's  estates  until  his  majority,  the  King 
gave  to  his  dear  friend,  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow. 

Gilbert  de  Clare  was  vallet  [not  yet  knighted]  to 
Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  1303. 

The  Dominium  of  Dalginche  included  the  estates 
of  Brunetoun  and  Trettoun.  The  principal  mansion 
was  at  Bruneton.  Sir  John  Cockburn,  his  son  and 
grandson,  are  found  styled  in  deeds  sometimes  of  this 
place,  at  others  of  Dalginche,  as  well  as  Torry.  In 
later  times  Trettoun  was  the  residence  and  designa- 
tion of  the  family.  Besides  John,  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor, Sir  John  had  a  daughter  married  to  Sir 
Henry  Wardlaw.  The  liferent  of  Torry,  from  what 
can  be  gathered  from  the  meagre  notices,  was  settled 
upon  her,  and  her  son  was  to  succeed  to  Torry,  which 
explains  the  statement  that  the  Wardlaws  got  that 
estate  by  a  match  with  the  daughter  of  the  owner, 
erroneously  supposed  to  have  been  still  a  Valoniis. 


345 


in.  Sir  3ol)n  iftockburn  of  ftorrg  anfc 

HDcllgind)?  succeeded  his  father  about  the  year 
1440.  He  is  found  very  frequently  named  under 
the  latter  designation  as  witness  to  charters  under 
the  Great  Seal,  but  is  also  styled  of  Torry.  Amongst 
the  "  potentibus  Dominis  "  who  settled  the  dis- 
puted boundaries  of  the  lands  pertaining  to  the 
Abbot  and  Convent  of  Dunfermline,  and  those 
belonging  to  the  burgesses  of  Kinghorn,  was  Sir 
John  de  Cokburne  de  Torry.  The  document  re- 
lating  their  decision  was  dated  penultimo  Decembris  !->"ie<  P-  348. 

1457- 

So  the  lands  of  Torry  had  not  then  passed  abso- 
lutely into  the  possession  of  Sir  Henry  Wardlaw, 
although  he  is  called  of  Torry  two  years  previously. 
The  charter  from  Alexander  Cokburn,  apparent  of 
Langton,  of  the  lands  of  Balnehard,  in  the  barony  of 
Carriden,  was  attested  in  1449  by  Johannes  de  Cok- 
burne miles  Dominus  de  Brunetoun,  as  appears  by 
the  deed  of  confirmation  under  the  Great  Seal  Keg.  Great 
dated  at  Linlithgow  3Oth  March  1549.  The  Lord-  Nofjij. 
ship  of  Torry,  Lochor-shire,  and  Dalginche,  &c.,  had 
been  bestowed  upon  Murdach,  Duke  of  Albany  ;  on 
his  forfeiture  the  Cockburns  and  Wardlaws  held 
their  respective  lands  from  the  Crown. 

Sir  John,  who  sat  with  William  Cockburn  of 
Ormiston  in  the  General  Council  in  1441,  had  two 
sons  whose  names  are  recorded  —  John,  his  heir, 

J  ' 


cf  Scotland, 

and  —  vol.  ;;.,  pp. 

56-57- 

PATRICK  COCKBURN,  who  appears  to  have  been  in  *e&  Gr'at.. 

^  /•  T  TT  J     T  TTT  T-  1  •SUM,    WB.  fl., 

favour  at  the  Courts  of  James  II.  and  James  III.     From  the   NOS.  748,  904. 
first  he  had  a  grant  of  some  lands  in  the  town  of  Dysert, 


Exchequer 
Rolls,  vol.  ix., 
Appendix, 
p.  682. 

Reg.  Great 
Seal,  vol.  iv., 
No.  2260. 


Exchequer 
Rolls,  Scot., 
vol.  vi.(  p. 
109. 


346 

County  Fife.  The  charter  was  dated  25*  March  1459.  On 
the  8th  February  1467  James  III.  granted  "  familiaro  suo 
Patricio  de  Cokburne  filio  Johannis  de  Cokburne  de  Dal- 
ginche  militi  et  heredibus  suis  terras  de  Dalqueich  vie 
Kinross." 

He  had  a  son,  Florentius  [or  Florimund,  as  his  name  some- 
times appears],  who  alienated  half  the  lands  of  Dalqueich  to 
Sir  Robert  Douglas  of  Lochleven,  who  had  charter  accord- 
ingly thereof  under  the  Great  Seal  2d  July  1495.  The 
descendants  of  Florentius  seem  to  have  continued  for  some 
generations  as  small  landed  proprietors. 

In  1450  he  was  Sheriff  of  Kinross,  as  in  1455 
James  Schaw,  Sheriff  of  Kynross,  is  found  debiting 
himself  "  with  the  balance  of  account  rendered  by 
Sir  John  de  Cokburne,  Sheriff  of  Kynros,  in  1450." 
This  James  Schaw  was  probably  nearly  related  to, 
if  not  father  of,  the  "  Schaw  de  Blare  et  Crambeth," 
who  married  Margaret  Cockburne,  Sir  John's  great- 
grand-daughter. 


Acta  Domi- 
norum  Con- 
eilii  et  Aiidi- 
torum  ad 
Causas  et 
Querelas  pro 
anno,  p.  13. 


Sibbald's  Fife, 
p.  364,  note. 


iv.   Sir  jfoljn  Olockburn  of 

styled  also  of  Trettoun,  had  come  into  possession  of 
the  estates  in  1468.  In  1471  Henry  Wardlaw  of 
Torry,  Knight,  appeared  before  the  Lords  of  the 
Council,  and  "protestit  that  Sir  John  de  Cokburne 
de  Trettoun  gert  sumand  him,  ye  said  Henry,  to  his 
instance,  and  comperit  noucht  to  persew  and  folow 
him."  Their  disputes  about  lands  and  other  matters 
were  no  doubt  settled  amicably  when  Sir  Henry's  son 
John  married  his  cousin  Margaret,  Sir  John  Cock- 
burn's  daughter.  He  was  the  last  of  his  family 
styled  of  Dalginche,  which,  with  Brunetoun,  came  to 
be  known  by  the  name  of  Barnsley,  not  an  improve- 
ment upon  the  old  historical  one. 


347 

v.  #ol)n  €ockburn  of  tettoiw  is  also 

mentioned  on  various  occasions  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  Council.  In  1480  he  came  himself  before  the 
Lords  with  a  complaint  about  "  a  silver  pece  for 
dett  aucht  to  him  be  umquhile  Patrick  Buchanane  of 
that  Ilk." 

In  the  same   year   decreet  was  given  "that   he 
should  pay  Archibald  Todrick  the  sum  of  vii.  Ib.  for  p' 73' 
his  part  of  xiii.  Ib.  that  John  and  John  of  Wemys 
were  bund  by  an  obligacione  for." 

He  had  three  sons — John,  David,  and  William. 
John  was  called  "son  and  apperand  are  to  John  Rid., p.  150. 
Cokburne  de  Trettoun"  when  he  came  with  John 
Somerville  before  the  Council  about  a  dispute 
respecting  the  teinds  of  the  Kirk  of  Sawline.  He 
predeceased  his  father,  and  the  second  son  suc- 
ceeded. One  of  the  Laird  of  Trettoun's  daughters, 
}  named  Margaret,  married  Schaw  de  Blare  at  Cram- 

beth,  as  noticed  above.      She  had  the  liferent  of  the 
third  part  of  Crambeth  Barony,  of  which  she  was  in  Reg.  Great 
possession   in    1506,  when  her  daughter  Elizabeth,  NO. '2996."'' 
as  her  father's  heir,  is  called  "  Domina  terrarum  de 
Blare  et  Crambeth." 

She  married  Robert  Colville  of  Haltoun,  who  is 
mentioned  as  owning  eight  mercatas  terrarum  de 
Blare  de  Crambeth.  In  1482  Marjorie,  spous  to 
umquhile  Henry  Steuart,  had  a  complaint  lodged 
before  the  Lords  of  the  Council  against  "  John 
Cockburn  of  Trettoun  and  Sir  David  Stewart,  sone 
and  ayr  to  umquhile  David  Stewart  of  Rosyth,"  for 
interfering  with  her  third  of  the  lands  of  Corb." 


B  2 


348 


vi.  £Uatrib   tfockbunt    of   £rcttcmn  had 

succeeded  to  the  lands  before  1515,  when  his  name 

Rig.  Gnat       appears  as  witnessing  a  charter  by  John  Setoun  and 

%o.f iM"    Janet  Turnbull,  his  wife,  portioners  of  Gargunnock 

and  Fordall,  of  some  lands  in  the  barony  of  Fordall, 

County  Fife.      In   1511  James    IV.  granted  to  Sir 

Henry  Wardlaw  and  his  heirs  "  in  proprietate  "  the 

lands  of   Burntoun,    Dalginche,  with   the    Loch  of 

Balquharg,  the  patronage  of  the  chapel  of  Inchgall, 

and  in  tenandria  the  lands  of  Trettoun  "  cum  Mar- 

rasia,"  Estir  Markinch,  Over  Markinch.  &c.,  in  the 

dominium  of  Dalginche,  County  Fife,  the  fourth  part 

7fcw.,voi.ii.,    of  the  lands  of  Blare-Crambeth  and  of  Kynnard, 

NO.  3942.        the   haif  Of  Drumlochirnocht,  and    of   Byn   in    the 

barony  of  Crambeth,  County  Fife,   which  were   in 

the  King's  hands  in  consequence  of  the  alienation 

of  the   greater  part   thereof  without   consent,    "et 

quas  Rex  concessit  eidem  una  cum  suo  juris  titulo 

ad    easdem    rationi    forisfacture  quondam    Murdaci 

Duci  Albanie." 

He  had  at  the  same  time  new  investitures  of  the 
barony  of  Wester  Lochor-shyre,  and  as  Torry  was 
his  also,  he  had  now  the  lordship  of  all  the  lands 
that  had  belonged  to  the  House  of  de  Valoniis  in 
these  districts. 

David  Cockburn  married  Katherine  Smyth.  Her 
father  had  Cask,  and  was  probably  of  the  family 
that  got  Braco,  in  Perthshire. 

PHcairn's  At  one  time  the  laird   of  Trettoun  was  not  the 

WKL,  p"i36.   quietest  of  His  Majesty's  subjects.     On  8th  October 

1527   he   was    "ammerciated  for  not  appearing  to 

answer   the   charge   of    having,    in    company   of    a 

number  of  his   neighbours,    invaded   in   a   warlike 


349 

manner  John  Lord  Lindsay,  Sheriff  of  Fife,  in  a 
fenced  court  within  the  tolbouth  of  Cowper,  County 
Fife,  the  doors  being  shut  and  the  assize  enclosed, 
and  for  breaking  open  the  doors  of  the  same."  Not- 
withstanding his  warlike  propensities  displayed 
upon  this  and  other  occasions,  he  lived  to  a  good 
old  age.  His  sons  were  John,  his  heir,  Walter,  and 
Andrew ;  he  had  also  two  daughters,  Jonet  and 
Isabelle.  The  latter  married  John  Wardlaw  of  Hill. 
They  had  infeftment  in  conjunct  fee  of  Richard- 
toune  f  Riccarton],  County  Edinburgh,  i6th  February 
1533.  Hill  belonged  afterwards  to  Hamiltons. 
James  Hamilton  of  Hill  married  in  1605  Margaret 
Cockburn. 

David  Cockburn  died  in  1570. 


vii.    $ol)n    Cockburn    of  &rettoun 

did  not  survive  his  father  many   years.     In    1576 

David  Balfour  of  Bal-Or,  and  Walter  Ltimisden  of 

Pitilloch,    were  securities  for  him  in  a  contract  he 

had  made  with  his  mother  Katherine,  who  had  "sett  Reg.  of  Deeds, 

him  in  tack  "  her  third  of  the  lands  of  Trettoun,  with  Voi.  14,  foi.  ' 

consent  of  her  second  husband,  John  Arnot  of  Pit-  291' 

medden. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Fairney.  In  his  will,  re- 
corded in  the  year  he  died,  1579,  it  was  mentioned 
that  there  was  "  due  to  him  by  the  Laird  of  Fairney, 
his  gude-father,  of  tocher-good,  conforme  to  a  con- 
tract of  marriage,  100  merks."  He  appointed  Mr 
Thomas  Lumisden,  parson  of  Kinkell,  and  Barbara 
Fairney,  his  spouse,  executors,  and  Andro  Wardlaw  meats,  vol.  7. 
of  Torrie  oversman,  and  ordained  his  wife  Eliza- 


350 

beth   to   be   tutrix   to   his  son    Andro   during   her 
widowhood. 

The  family  of  Fairney  or  Ferney  of  that  1 
ended  soon  after  this  time  in  an  heiress  married  to 
Arnot  of  Chapell-Kettle,  alias  King's-Kettle,  County 
Fife.  Sir  David  Lindsay  blazoned  their  arms  or  a 
fess'e  azure  between  three  lions  heads  erased  gules 
fatigued  azure,  which  bearing  seems  to  indicate  a 
connection  with  their  neighbours,  the  old  Scots  of 
Balwearie. 

vni.    OVnbren)    Cockburn  of   tottotm 

succeeded  his  father,  and  died  about  1615,  leaving 
two  sons  —  John  and  Walter. 

ix.  3ol)u  Cockburn  of  tettoun  was  the 

last  of  these  Fifeshire  lairds.      He  appears  by  the 
following  document  to  have  disposed  of  his  estate, 
'  and  to  have  died  young,  perhaps  unmarried. 

The  deed  referred  to  was  dated  at  Halyrudhous, 
3d  July  1628,  and  sets  forth  that  "  Oure  soverane 
Lord  ordines  ane  lettre  to  be  maid  under  His 
Hienes  Privie  Scale  in  dew  forme  to  His  Majesties 
lovite,  Captain  Walter  Cokburne,  his  heirs,  &c.,  of 
the  escheat  of  the  goods  movable  and  unmovable, 
tg.o/signa-  debts,  takis,  stedings,  &c.,  which  pertained  of  before 
im,  vol.  H.  deceased  issobell  Lawder,  dochter  naturall  to 


im, 


umquhile  John  Lawder  of  Edrintoun,  and  spous  to 
to  Captain  Walter  Cokburn,  brother  -  german  to 
umquhile  John  Cokburne,  sumtyme  of  Trettoun, 
now  pertaining  to  our  soverane  Lord,  throw  being 
of  the  said  umquhile  Issobell  born,  &c." 


Robert    Laudare,    son    and    heir  of   Sir    Robert 
Laudare  of  Edrintoun  vie  Berwick,  had  new  charter 
of  this  old  possession  of  the  family  of  the  Bass  from 
James  III.,  on  his  father's  resignation  in  his  favour,  Reg.  Gnat 
to  be  held  from  the  Crown,  by  him  and  his  heirs  NO?  1045.  ' 
male  bearing  the  name  and  arms  of  Lauder. 

Copy  of  the  coat  of  his  neighbour  and  contem- 
porary, David  Cockburn  of  Trettoun,  as  blazoned 
by  "  Sir  David  Lindesay  of  the  Mont,  Knycht,  alias 
Lion  Kyng  of  Armes,  autor,  Anno  Domini  1542," 
is  given  at  the  head  of  this  memoir. 


CHARTER  by  THOMAS   DE   MELSONBY,  PRIOR  of 

Renington.  witnessed  by  HENRY  DE  PRENDERGAST,  ADAM 


not 


HVV 


*™ 


aiuc^t  Al>  <m 
, 


1 

j 


l4\l  \J\ 

ttxanxt  Lmrc  de  (Jamao  fegiy.lctu?ucf 

L  U  A  lL«ft 

wrutoe .  iLmlucnKJiur.  |  Ltturunvr.  t^ 

7T         \ 

:ILA 
1 

TV  A, 


x&v , 


utx 


^tictt^tu-ATAxrea^  y^" 


to  JOHN   DE    HuNfiNGHOURE,  of  a.   Carucate   of   Land    in 
5  Son,  and  HELYA  DE  PRENDERGAST,  &c. — A.D.  1216-18. 


CHARTER   by  THOMAS,    PRIOR  of  COLDINGHAM,  to  JOHN  of 
Hunsinghoure,  of  a  Carucate  of  Land  in  Renington. 

TRANSLATION. 

Thomas,  Prior,  and  convent  of  Coldingham,  to  all  who  shall  see 
or  hear  these  letters,  greeting  :  Wit  ye  us  to  have  granted,  and  by 
our  present  charter  to  have  confirmed,  to  John  of  Hunsinghoure, 
and  his  heirs,  for  his  homage  and  service,  one  carucate  of  land  in 
Renington,  the  same  carucate,  that  is  to  say,  which  he  had  of 
Patrick  Dreng ;  to  be  held  and  to  be  had  to  him  and  his  heirs  of 
us,  in  fee  and  heritage,  freely  and  quietly  from  all  service,  custom, 
and  exaction  :  Rendering  therefor  to  us  yearly  five  shillings,  at  two 
terms,  that  is  to  say,  thirty  pennies  at  the  Feast  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  and  thirty  pennies  at  the  feast  of  St.  Mark,  and  to  the 
King's  corrody  twenty  pennies  at  Easter ;  and  doing  so  much  for- 
insec  service  as  pertains  to  one  carucate  of  land  in  the  same 
town  :  Wherefor  we  will  that  the  aforesaid  John  and  his  heirs 
shall  have,  hold,  and  by  heritable  right  possess  the  aforenamed 
land  freely,  quietly,  and  honourably,  with  meadows  and  grazings, 
and  all  freedoms  and  easements  pertaining  to  the  aforesaid  town, 
by  the  service  which  is  beforenamed  •  saving  to  us  our  multure  : 
These  being  witnesses,  Walter  de  Londoniis,  William  his  son, 
Henry  of  Prendergast,  Adam  his  son,  Gregory  the  steward,  Helya 
of  Prendergast,  William  of  Lumesden,  Walter  of  Edenham. 
Andrew  of  Paxton,  Ralf  the  Provost,  and  many  others. 


NOTES. 


NOTE  I.,  PAGE  2. 

In  Mr.  Hunter's  description  of  the  tomb  of  a  Cockburn,  discovered  among 
the  ruins  of  Coldingham  Priory,  he  says  that  the  "stone  coffin  was  covered 
by  a  dressed  slab,  which  has  carved  upon  it  a  sword  in  form  of  a  crucifix,  on 
one  side  of  which  there  is  the  figure  of  a  domestic  cock,  and  on  the  other  a 
bugle-horn,"  and  refers  to  a  drawing  of  it  as  given  in  his  history  of  the  ancient 
monastery.  It  does  not  appear  there,  however ;  nor  is  any  stone  answering 
the  description  to  be  seen  built  into  the  wall  to  the  south  of  the  archway  or 
elsewhere.  Between  the  representation  of  the  tombstones  [now  unfortunately 
both  exposed  to  the  weather]  of  Prior  Mma\d,  who  died  A.D.  1202,  and  his 
successor,  Prior  Radulph,  is  placed  in  the  engraving  in  his  book,  that  of  one  of 
the  stones  he  refers  to  as  built  into  the  wall.  This  is  evidently  the  same  as 
that  which  the  writer  took  a  rubbing  from  in  1866,  from  which  the  drawing, 
page  2,  was  made.  There  are  three  monumental  slabs  built  in  side  by  side  ; 
this  one  figured,  and  another  of  same  dimensions  which  has  carved  upon  it  an 
exactly  similar  Calvary  cross  and  sword  on  the  one  side  of  it,  and  on  the  other, 
instead  of  the  shield  with  a  cock,  a  bugle-horn.  These  two  large  stones  were 
doubtless  built  into  the  sides  of  the  tomb  erected  over  the  stone  coffin,  which 
had  been  prepared  for  a  man  of  large  proportions,  being  seven  feet  clear  inside 
The  writer  was  informed  that  a  workman  present  at  the  time  they  were  dis 
covered  states  that  the  stones  referred  to  were  found  in  close  proximity  to  the 
coffin,  as  was  also  the  third  one  which  may  have  formed  the  apex  of  the 
erection,  and  which  has  a  sword  upon  it  which  may  be  described  as  being  in 
the  form  of  a  crucifix.  It  is  bevelled  sharply  off  close  to  the  sword  on  either 
side,  leaving  no  space  for  other  figures,  and  being  only  five  feet  long,  could  not 
have  covered  the  large  coffin,  but  may  have  been,  as  suggested,  the  top  of  the 
built-up  cist. 

It  is  not  a  little  striking  how  rude  in  those  days  were  the  tombs  of  distin- 
guished men  buried  within  the  precincts  of  the  grand  buildings  which  many  of 
them  helped  to  raise,  and  of  the  high  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  who  officiated  in 
these  abbeys.  They  present  assuredly  a  marvellous  contrast  to  the  splendid 
ones  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Hindus,  or  Etruscans  from  1000  to  3000  years 
before.  It  is  the  more  remarkable  when  the  elaborate  ornamentation  of  the 
beautiful  buildings  in  which  the  tombs  were  placed  is  considered,  and  the  high 
advancement  in  many  arts  at  the  time,  evinced  even  by  the  earliest  charters,  such 
as  those  of  which  facsimiles  are  given  at  pages  23  and  26  of  this  volume,  and  the 
beautiful  one  opposite  this  page,  of  Thomas  de  Melsonby,  Prior  of  Coldingham 
in  the  year  1215,  when  Piers  de  Cockburn  was  a  young  man.  These  very 


354 

nobles  consigned  to  grim  unpolished  cists  of  rough  stone,  with  slight  adornment 
of  any  description,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  not  barbarous  and  untutored, 
as  so  many  writers  seem  to  delight  in  representing  the  ancient  Scottish  magnates 
to  have  been,  but  shone  amidst  the  most  enlightened  and  highly  civilised  knights 
of  foreign  courts.  In  the  brilliant  assemblage  in  that  of  France  few  could 
compare  with  Robert  THE  BRUCE,  the  good  Sir  James  of  Douglas,  or  Sir 
Alexander  de  Lyndessay  in  culture  and  manners,  as  well  as  magnificent 
appearance. 

NOTE  II.— PAGE  14. 

Agnes  de  Vesci  had  interfered  with  Edward  the  First's  escheator  within  her 
Manor  of  Sprouston,  County  Roxburgh.  It  is  recorded  that  the  King  granted 
remission  "of  the  forfeiture  of  her  tennantes  within  the  manors  of  Sprouston 
and  Crail," — the  latter  was  part  of  Queen  Johanna's  dower. 

She  was  eventual  heiress  of  Eustace  de  Vescy,  who,  with  his  wife,  had  leave 
from  the  Abbot  and  Monks  of  Kelso  to  have  a  chapel  in  their  Court  of  Sprous- 
ton. Eustace  Fitzjohn,  marrying  Beatrice,  daughter  of  Ivo  de  Vassy,  in  the 
arrondissement  de  Vere,  assumed  her  name,  and  was  progenitor  of  the  influential 
family  of  de  Vesci  in  Britain.  Their  possessions  lay  far  and  wide.  In  1253 
Peter  de  Sabandia  [of  Savoy]  had  the  custody  of  all  William  de  Vescy's  lands 
till  the  majority  of  the  heir,  except  those  assigned  to  his  widow  Agnes.  He 
was  to  pay  to  the  King  yearly  for  the  said  ward  ^625  :  8  : 10,  an  immense  sum 
then.  His  descendant,  William  de  Vescy,  had  territories  in  Ireland  as  well  as 
in  England  and  Scotland,  as  shown  by  an  interesting  document,  dated  A.D.  1297, 
which  sets  forth  : — "  The  King  to  his  Leigis. — As  William  de  Vesci  has  granted 
to  him  the  Castle,  Manor,  and  County  of  Kyldare,  in  Ireland,  and  also  the 
Manor  of  Sprouston  in  Scotland,  with  pertinents  both  in  England  and  Scotland, 
whereof  Clemencia,  widow  of  John  de  Vescy,  the  son,  has  two-thirds,  and 
Isabella,  widow  of  John  de  Vescy,  William's  brother,  one-third  as  dower  ;  the 
King  grants  Kyldare  to  William  for  his  life,  and  also  Sprouston,  after  the  death 
of  Clemencia  and  Isabella."  These  ladies,  as  well  as  William,  Agnes'  father, 
were  all  dead  seemingly  before  1311,  when  her  lands  were  restored  to  her. 
Robert  and  Ivo  de  Vassy  were  both  with  the  Conqueror.  The  Viscounts  de 
Vesci  and  the  Lords  Fitzgerald  and  Vescy  are  said  to  be  descended  from  the 
Scottish  branch. — [Bain's  Calendar  of  State  Documents  relating  to  Scotland,  and 
Planche's  Companions  of  the  Conqueror.] 

NOTE  III.— PAGE  24. 

Bishop  jErnald  of  St.  Andrews,  formerly  Abbot  of  Kelso,  and  a  power  in 
the  Border  districts,  has  been  credited  with  the  paternity  of  Matillidis  de 
Sancto  Andrea,  heiress  of  Homdean,  in  the  Merse,  &c.,  which  she  carried  to 
her  husband,  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Langton.  This,  however,  as  indicated 
in  the  text,  seems  to  be  a  mistaken  idea.  In  the  "Calendar  of  State  Docu- 
ments "  appear  the  names  of  various  members  of  the  family  of  St.  Andrew,  or 
as  written,  de  Sancto  Andrea,  which  was  one  of  consideration,  possessing  lands 
in  several  parts  of  both  kingdoms.  In  December  1256  Matillidis  de  Sancto 
Andrea  gave  Henry  III.  a  mark  to  have  a  "  pone,"  and  again  in  February  fol- 
lowing twenty  shillings  to  have  a  writ  "de  gracia."  In  1268  the  Sheriff  of 
Cambridge  and  Huntingdon  was  commanded  to  present  John  Lovel,  in  the 


355 

quinzeane  of  Trinity,  to  answer  to  Matillidis  de  Sancto  Andrea  for  thirty  shil- 
lings he  received  from  her  for  the  debts  of  Salomon  Bishop  the  Jew,  while  he 
was  sheriff,  whereof  he  should  have  discharged  her  ;  and  of  365.  8d.  which  she 
paid  to  the  King  at  Exchequer  of  same  debts. 

Sir  Roger  de  Sancto  Andrea  was  a  witness  with  "  Sir  Seer  de  Quincy,  Earle 
of  Wincestre,"  and  others,  to  the  grant  by  Hawise  de  Qynci  in  her  widowhood 
to  the  brethren  of  the  Holy  House  of  the  Hospital  of  Jerusalem  in  England  of 
five  merks  of  silver  yearly  during  her  life  for  the  soul  of  Robert  de  Qynci,  her 
late  husband.  The  mass  "  for  the  faithful  defunct "  was  to  be  celebrated  in 
their  church  at  Clerkenwell  [Fonte  Clericorum],  London.  The  lands  of  Saher 
de  St.  Andrew  [Sancto  Andrea],  were  taken  into  the  King's  hands,  A.D.  1219, 
because  he  "  made  no  fine  for  the  ,£40  he  owes  of  the  debts  of  Hugh  de  Dine 
[or  Dive]  on  account  of  the  latter's  third  daughter,  whom  he  has  to  wife  ; "  but 
in  1227  "  Saher  of  St.  Andrew  [Sancto  Andrea],  Richard  de  Mucegros,  and 
Simon  de  Mucegros  made  their  fealty  to  the  King  for  the  lands  of  Matilda  de 
Dive,  grandmother  of  Matilda,  Alicia,  and  Ascelina,  their  wives,"  &c. 

NOTE  IV.— PAGE  36. 

As  pointed  out,  there  is  no  evidence  as  to  the  exact  time  when,  or  the  reason 
why,  the  Scottish  house  of  de  Veteri-Ponte  adopted  as  their  armorial  bearing 
mascles  thrte,  two,  and  one,  in  place  of  the  three  lions  rampant  carried  upon  his 
shield  by  Sir  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Langton  in  the  reign  of  William  the 
Lion.  The  de  Quincis  bore  mascles.  Saher  de  Quinci,  Earl  of  Winchester,  in 
England,  was  Great  Constable  of  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  III.,  as 
his  father  Roger  de  Quinci,  who  married  Helena  [some  say  Anicia,  which 
appears  correct],  daughter  of  Alan,  Lord  of  Galloway,  had  been  in  that  of 
Alexander  II.  These  nobles  carried  seven  mascles,  three,  three,  and  one. 
Roger  being  charged,  together  with  William,  King  of  Scots,  with  setting  up 
Louis  as  King  of  France,  fled  to  Scotland,  and  settling  there  for  a  time,  gained 
great  influence  in  consequence  of  his  match  with  Anicia.  This  was  the  name 
also  of  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  John  de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Aberdour,  as  also  of 
the  daughter  and  heiress  of  William  de  Moreville,  Lord  of  Lauderdale,  Great 
Constable  of  Scotland,  and  mother  of  this  Alan,  Lord  of  Galloway.  Robert  de 
Veteri-Ponte  married  Maude,  William's  sister.  Their  father,  Hugh  de  More- 
ville, was  likewise  Great  Constable  of  Scotland.  The  relationship  between  the 
de  Quincis,  de  Morevilles,  and  de  Veteri-Pontes  seems  to  have  been  close,  and 
it  is  quite  possible  that  the  mother  of  William  de  Veteri-Ponte  was  a  de  Quinci, 
and  that  through  her  came  the  lands  in  Galloway  held  by  their  descendants, 
who  therefore  took  the  mascles  as  their  device  of  arms. 

NOTE  V.— PAGE  43. 

Sir  Alexander  Cockburn,  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  married  twice.  His 
first  wife  was  a  Summervill  or  Somerville.  She  was  in  all  likelihood  the 
daughter  of  Sir  Walter  de  Summyrvill  of  Lintoun,  County  Roxburgh,  and 
Carnwath,  County  Lanark,  who  married,  as  stated,  page  222,  Gelis,  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Heryng  of  Edmeston,  in  Lanarkshire,  and  with  her  got  the  barony 
of  Gilmerton,  including  Gutheris  [Goodtrees]  and  the  lands  of  Drum,  in  Mid- 
lothian. It  is  questionable  whether  Giles  was  the  mother  of  any  of  his  children, 
as  she  was,  there  seems  reason  to  believe,  well  advanced  in  years  when  she 

C  2 


iS6 


married  him  in  1372,  although  one  writer  says  she  married  secondly  Sir 
William  Fairlie  of  liraclc,  and  had  a  son  by  him.  Sir  Alexander  Cockhurn's 
wife  was  probably  Sir  Walter  Somerville's  daughter  by  a  previous  marriage. 
Sir  William  Cockburn,  their  son,  in  order  to  record  his  descent,  and  because 
some  of  his  many  possessions  in  the  Lothians  may  have  come  through  his 
mother's  family,  placed  the  cross-crosslet  jitchec  of  the  Somervilles  on  the  fesse 
point  of  his  shield,  instead  of  the  buckle  of  the  Bonkylls,  which  is,  however,  seen 
well  displayed  upon  the  mantling  of  his  handsome  and  somewhat  uncommon 
seal. 

Sir  William's  brother  Patrick  is  not  called  frater-germanus  in  the  "  Regis- 
trum  Magni  Sigilli "  or  elsewhere.  He  held  lands  which  belonged  to  the  Hep- 
burnes,  so  it  may  be  believed  that  he  was  the  son  of  Sir  Alexander  by  his 
second  wife,  Mariota  Hepburne,  whose  father  Sir  Patrick  was  a  member  of  the 
Parliament  assembled  in  1372,  and  whose  seal  bore  the  same  arms  as  that  of 
Sir  Patrick  Hepburn,  Lord  of  Hales,  in  1450,  of  which  a  representation  is 
given  at  page  315. 

In  1511  Sir  John  Somerville  of  Cambusnethan  sold  Guttaris  and  Gilmertoun 
[terris  et  loco  de  Drum  exceptis]  to  Adam  Hepburne  of  Craggis. 

NOTE  VI.— PAGE  68. 

Janet  or  Janeta  Ottirburn,  mentioned  in  the  text  as  the  first  wife  of  Sir 

James  Cockburn  of  Langton,  was  the 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Ottirburn  of 
Reidhall,  by  his  wife  Janet  Stewart, 
daughter  of  John,  third  Earl  of 
Athole. 

Their  son,  Sir  Thomas  Ottirburn, 
married  his  cousin  Mariota  Cock- 
burn,  and,  with  other  children,  had 
a  daughter  Anne,  married  in  1616 
to  James  Hamilton  of  Hoprig,  re- 
presentative of  the  family  of  Inner- 
wick.—  [Pray  Seal  Register,  Ixxxvi.] 
The  family  of  Ottirburn  or  Otter- 
burn  carried  otters'  heads  relative  to 
the  name.  Nisbet  gives  the  coat 
of  Redhall  argent  gitttee  de  sable; 
a  chevron  between  three  otters'  heads 


Seal  of  Magister  Adam  Ottirburn. 
A.D.  1480-1500. 


Ottirburn,  Arch-Presbyter, witnessed  the  charter     azure  a  crescent  or. 
from  Patrick  Hepburn,  first  Earl  of  Bothwell, 
to  which  the  seal  of  which  copy  is  given  at  page 


It  is  dated  at  Dunbar,  25th  May  1450. 

NOTE  VII.— PAGE  76. 

The  crest  of  the  Hepburnes,  as  figured  on  the  seal  of  Patrick,  first  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  has  been  called  a  camelopard's  head.  Mr.  Laing,  in  his  "  Ancient 
Scottish  Seals,"  terms  it  a  camel's  head  bridled.  This  seems  a  mistake.  At 


357 

page  315  is  given  the  representation  of  his  seal  carefully  made  from  the  original 
seal  appended  to  the  charter. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  artist  intended  to  present  thereon  the 
historical  horse's  head  bridled,  figured  according  to  the  fanciful  and  somewhat 
grotesque  fashion  in  favour  with  the  old  heralds. 

NOTE  VIII.— PAGE  91. 

Alexander  Acheson,  called  of  Gosford,  was  dilaitit  loth  April  1569  for  the 
murder  of  John  Sinclair  in  Aberlady.  He  was  the  son  of  Alexander  Sinclair 
of  Gosford  and  Marion  Cockburn  his  wife.  This  lady,  in  her  widowhood,  had 
made  over  part  of  Gosford  to  this  Alexander  Acheson  and  Helen  Ryd  [Reid] 
his  wife,  ten  years  previously.  There  was  probably  a  quarrel  between  the 
unfortunate  John  Sinclair  and  Acheson  about  these  lands,  which  Thomas 
Sinclair  and  Mirabelle  Dalrymple  his  wife  had  charter  of  in  1458  from  James 
II.,  in  favorem  mercatoris  sui  Johannis  Dalrimple  burgess  de  Edinburgh,  pro 
ejus  gratuitis  servitiis.  Mirabelle  was  the  merchant's  daughter.  Sir  Archibald 
Acheson  of  Gosford  married  first  Agnes  Vernor  of  Leith,  and  secondly 
Margaret,  only  daughter  of  Sir  George  Hamilton,  third  son  of  Claud  Hamilton, 
Lord  Paisley.  The  "Vernoures"  were  people  of  consideration  in  Edinburgh 
in  1450 — burgesses  of  that  city.  Their  names  appear  frequently  in  the 
"  Registrum  Magni  Sigilli."  Sir  William  Cockburn,  first  Baronet  of  Lang- 
ton's  wife  is  stated  to  have  been  Sir  Archibald  Acheson's  daughter  by  his 
first  wife." 

NOTE  IX.— PAGE  95. 

The  second  Baronet  of  Langton  had,  besides  Helen,  wife  of  Sir  Robert 
Stewart,  Baronet  of  Allanbank,  another  daughter,  Elizabeth.  In  the  "Edinburgh 
Register"  is  recorded  the  marriage  on  1st  December  1688  of  "Alexander 
Fraser  of  Strichen  and  Elizabeth,  eldest  lawful  daughter  of  Sir  Archibald 
Cockburn  of  Langton,  by  warrant  of  my  Lord  Bishop  of  Edinburgh." 

NOTE  X. — PAGE  99. 

In  confirmation  of  the  correctness  of  the  statement  by  Sir  Robert  Douglas 
in  his  "  Peerage,"  that  Lady  Mary  Campbell  was  the  daughter  of  Lord 
Breadalbane  by  his  third  wife,  Mrs.  Littler,  reference  may  be  made  to  a  deed 
dated  in  1708,  whereby  "John,  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  infefted  Mrs.  Mildred 
Littler  and  Mary  Campbell,  their  daughter,  in  the  lands  of  Dowans  and 
Stronondoran."  In  1710  "Mrs.  Mildred  Littler  renounced  her  right  to  the 
said  lands  in  favour  of  her  said  daughter,  Mary  Campbell." 

NOTE  XI. — PAGE  236. 

The  Pennecuiks  of  that  Ilk,  far  as  their  estates  lay  from  the  Border,  held 
lands  also  in  England,  as  so  many  of  the  chief  Scottish  families  did  of  old. 
"  Huwe,"  or  Hugo  de  Penycok,  signed  the  deed  of  homage  in  1296,  and  ap- 
pended thereto  his  seal,  bearing  "a  griffin  passing  to  dexter."  He  was  one 
of  those  designated  "tenantes  de  Roi  del  Counte  de  Ednebruk."  Being  sub- 
sequently proclaimed  a  rebel,  his  lands  in  England  were  forfeited,  but  coming 
"to  Edward's  peace"  in  1306,  on  the  24th  March  of  that  year  William  de 
Greinfield,  the  Chancellor,  was  ordered  to  restore  to  Hugo  de  Penycok  his 


v/ 


358 

heritage  in  Northumberland.  In  the  year  1461  John  Penycoke  was  "  Esquire 
of  the  body"  of  Henry  VI.,  but  was,  like  his  ancestor,  proclaimed  a  rebel. 
Letters  patent  were  granted  "to  Thomas  Loughton  and  William  Sygar, 
citizens  of  London,  for  forty  years'  custody  of  a  tenement  or  messuage  in  Wat- 
lyng  Strete,  parish  of  All  Saints',  London,  which  John  Penycok,  late  vallet  ol 
the  Crown,  forfeited  by  his  rebellion."  This  John's  son  and  grandson,  both 
named  John,  had  the  manors  of  Over  Burnham  and  Nether  Burnham,  which 
"belonged  to  the  deceased  John,  late  Esquire  of  the  body  of  the  late  King 
Henry  VI."— [Bain's  Calendar.} 

NOTE  XII.— PAGE  250. 

Sir  David  Crichton  of  Lugton  married  an  Isobelle  Cockburn,  as  stated, 
but  she  was  not  the  daughter  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling,  but  of  his 
cousin,  John  Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  and  Helen  Maitland,  his  wife.  They 
had  joint  infeftment  on  their  marriage  of  Holinglee  and  Thornylee,  in  the 
Forest  of  Selkirk,  with  fishings  in  Tweed. 

NOTE  XIII.— PAGE  265. 

Just  before  commission  of  the  murder,  there  is  recorded  an  "action  by  an 
honourable  man,  Alexander  Cokburn  of  Newhall,  against  Elizabeth  Crechton, 
his  spouse,  for  divorce  "  [reasons  not  stated].  It  was  decided  against  him,  and 
"  the  pair  are  ordained  to  cohabit  together  in  mensa  et  thoro  as  becomes." — 
[Liter  Officiates  St.  Andree  infra  Laudoniam,  fol.  85.] 

NOTE  XIV. — PAGE  291. 

In  the  year  1583  Elizabeth  Hoppringle,  Prioress  of  Coldstream  [Cauld- 
streme],  in  gratitude  for  aid  given  in  her  great  peril,  and  for  money  given  to 
restore  the  convent  "  solo  plane  equati  per  Anglos,"  gave  to  John,  son  of  the 
late  William  Cockburne  of  Chowslee,  "unus  custodum  corpore  regis  Galliae," 
ten  husbandlands  in  Symprine,  County  Berwick. 

NOTE  XV. — PAGE  303. 

Jean,  wife  of  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  was,  as  mentioned  in  the 
text,  daughter  of  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of  Polwarth,  by  his  wife,  daughter  of  Sir 
Thomas  Ker  of  Ferniehirst,  the  brave  and  loyal  friend  of  Qneen  Mary.  Sir 
Thomas  married  twice.  By  his  first  wife,  Janet,  daughter  of  the  gallant  Sir 
William  Kirkaldy  of  Grange  [also  Mary  Stuart's  most  devoted  friend,  who 
never  deserted  her  in  her  direst  distress],  he  had  Andrew,  first  Lord  Jedburgh, 
Jean,  and  Sophia,  wife  of  Joseph  Johnston  of  Hilton  in  the  Merse.  By  his 
second  wife,  "also  named  Janet,  the  sister  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Buccleuch,  he 
had  three  sons — James,  who  succeeded  his  half  brother  as  second  Lord  Jed- 
liurgh,  Thomas  of  Oxnam,  and  Robert,  the  favourite  of  James  VI.,  who  made 
him  Viscount  Rochester  and  then  Earl  of  Somerset.  This  rather  notorious 
uncle  of  Jean  Cockburn  adopted  the  name  of  Carre.  His  wife  was  the  divorced 
Countess  of  Essex.  They  had  one  daughter,  Lady  Anne  Carre,  who  married 
the  fifth  Earl  of  Bedford,  raised  to  the  Dukedom.  She  was  equally  dis- 
tinguished for  her  admirable  qualities  and  character,  as  her  mother  was  for  the 


LETTER  of  MARQUE  to  JOHN  COCKBURN  of  Ormiston  from  E 


VI.,  countersigned  by  the  Protector  Somerset  2Qth  Nov.   1547. 


<?  cky>vvvvM/ovt>t? ~£vvii>  (4i£v&r4-(^ -<Jvv»£j  (??^ir»9(f    ofc;  <mtr  ^piri-\3iA^  ^^nj-W^iW/ o^vM^Wt^ 

?  ^r  fiu^Wa-r^^r^ 


u*^ 


„    ,  „  ,    -w  o^r  ^^ 

^9-^    &&<&tf^^&<*^*f' 


358  a 


PAGE  127— NOTE  XVI. 

Besides  the  grant  of  the  great  estates  which  belonged  to  the  dissolved 
Hospital  of  St.  Giles,  Durham,  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston  received  other 
favours  from  the  English  Court,  notably  two.  Since  the  preceding  pages 
were  in  print,  the  documents  relating  to  these  have  been  kindly  brought  to 
the  author's  notice  by  Dr.  Dickson,  Curator  of  the  Historical  Department  of 
H.  M.  Register  House,  amongst  the  records  in  which  repository  they  have 
been  preserved. 

The  one  is  a  Letter  of  Marque  in  the  vernacular,  under  the  signet  and 
sign-manual  of  Edward  VI.,  countersigned  by  the  Protector  'Somerset,  to  the 
Laird  of  Ormiston  to  trade  between  Scotland  and  France,  bearing  date  agth 
November  1547.  The  accompanying  is  an  excellent  facsimile  thereof,  and  has 
been,  as  well  as  the  others,  produced  by  Messrs.  SCOTT  &  FERGUSON,  to 
whose  careful  exertions  the  author  is  so  much  indebted  for  the  attractive 
appearance  given  to  this  volume. 

The  other  is  Letter  Patent  of  Naturalisation  by  the  same  monarch  in  favour 
of  this  laird,  his  wife,  and  their  children.  It  is  written  in  Latin,  and  is  dated 
1 2th  May  1552.  The  following  is  an  abstract  of  its  contents: — 

Letters  of  Naturalisation  by  Edward  the  Sixth,  King  of  England,  in 
favour  of  John  Cockebourne  of  Ormestoun,  Alisen,  his  wife,  and  Alexander, 
fohn,  Barbara,  and  Sibilla,  their  children,  born  subjects  of  the  Queen  of  Scot- 
land, granting  to  them  all  the  liberties  and  privileges  belonging  to  the  lie^e 
subjects  of  the  kingdom  as  fully  in  all  respects  as  if  they  had  been  born  therein. 

Given  at  Westminster  under  the  Great  Seal  of  England,  the  twelfth  day  of 
May  and  sixth  year  of  the  King's  reign. 


APPENDIX. 


Seal  and  Secretum  of  Sir  WILLIAM  DE  VF.TEKI-I'ONTK,  fourth  Huron  of 
Langloun,  County  Berwick,  Caradyn,  County  Lmlithgow,  and  Boalton.  County 
Haddington  Temp.  Alexander  II. 


APPENDIX. 


TABLE  showing  the  Descent  of  the  CLIFFORDS  OF  APPLEBY,  from 
ROBERT  DE  VETERI-PONTE,  LORD  OF  WESTMORLAND. 

(BRITISH  MUSEUM,  HARLEY  MS.  154,  f.  29.) 


EWYAS. 


ooo 
oo 


ROBERT  DE  VETERI-PONTE,  i  lo. 
or  Baron  of  Westmerl.,  tempore 

}ohannis  Regis.  To  him  King 
ohn  gave  the  baroni  of  West- 
morland to  holde  at  the  King's 
pleasure,  superstes  fuit,  4  &  6 
dicti  regis  Johannis.  He  married 
Idonea  de  Veteri-Ponte,  graund- 
mother  of  hir  husband. 


JOHN  DE  VETERI-PONTE  de  West- 
merland,  I  son,  obiit  25  Hen.  3, 
fynes  25  Henry  3,  m.  3. 

ROBERT  DE  VETERI-PONTE  domi- 
nus  de  Westmerl.,  40  Henry  3, 
m.  2,  Claus  I  ;  Hen.  3,  vie 
Cumbr.  pire  ;  2  Henry  3,  m.  3, 
Claus  45  ;  Hen.  3,  m.  26,  49 ; 
Hen.  3,  m.  10,  he  gave  him  the 
ward  of  his  wife. 


HERALDUS   Rex  Anglie  films 
Godwin!. 

HERALDUS  dominus  de  Ewyas 
a  quo  Dominium  nominatur 
Ewyas  Harolde  in  Comitatu 
Hertff. 


ROBERT  DE  EWYAS,  Lord  of 
Ewyas  Harolde,  ob.  circa 
annum  1195. 


WALTER  DE  CLIFFORD. 


S I BILLA,  daughter  of  Robert  de=RoGER  DE  CLIFFORD, 


Ewyas,  and  heire  relict  of  the 
Lord  Robert  de  Tregoze. 


2  son. 


WALTER 
CLIFFORD 
the  3  was  a 
Baron,  &c. 


ISABELLA,  daughter  and  coheire  of=RooER  DE  CLIFFORDS  of  Appleby, 
Robert  de  Veteri-Ponte,  Lord  of          Lord  of  Westmerland  jure  uxoris. 
Westmerland. 

ROBERT  CLIFFORDS  of  Appleby,  and MAUDE  DE  CLARE,  cozin  and  coheir 


Lord   of  Westmerland, 
8  Edw.  2. 


son,  obiit 


of  Thomas  de  Clare,  a  nobleman  and 
seneschall  of  the  fforest  of  Essex,  ob. 
I  Edw.  3. 


i 

ROGER  DE  CLIFFORD  of  Appleby, 
of  Westmerland,  ob.  s.f.  1  Ed 


vel  20  Edw.  2. 


Lord      ROBERT  DE  CLIFFORD,  2  son,  died 
w.  3,  before  Roger,  his  elder  brother. 


36a 


PEDIGREE  OF  DE  VETERI-PONTE  AND  CLIFFORD  OF  WESTMORELAND. 

(BRITISH  MUSEUM,  HARLEY  MS.   it 60,  f.  75-) 


OOOO 

ooo 

L      O   O 


RICHARDUS  PUNTIUS  NORMANNUS  in  clipeo  rubro  10 
aureos  anellos  gestabat. 

ROBERTUS     DE     VETERI-PONTE     S1V6     VIPONTE    Or 
BlPONTE,  primus  dominus  de  Westmorlande. 


JOHANNES    VIPONTE    or    BYPONTE,    2    Dominus 
Westmorland. 


ROBERTUS  DE  VIPONTE,  3  dominus  Westmorlandie, 
1216. 


ROGERUS  dominus  Clyffordie,  =  SIBELI.A, 

1  coheres. 


HENRY  BROMFLETT, 
L.  Vesscye. 


A  quorum  posteris. 

JOHN  L.  CI.IFFORDE,  or  as  some 
say  Thomas,  slayne  at  the 
batell  of  St  Albones,  33  H.  6, 
1455- 


MARGARET,  ye   sole=JoHN  CLIFFORD,  slaine  at  the 
heire.  battell  of  palme  Sunday,  Ed. 

4,  1461,  vvhoe  slewe  ye  E.  of 
Rutland  kneeling  on  his  knees, 
for  which  his  yonge  sonne 
Thomas  Clyfford  was  brought 
up  with  a  sheep  herd  in  poore 
habett  ever  in  feare  to  be 
known  till  H.  7  restored  him 
to  his  name  and  possessions. 


IDONEA,  2  coheres, 
Rogero  de  Leybourne. 


MARY,  mar.  to  Sr  William 
Wentworth  of  Nettellsted, 
in  Suffolk. 


363 

PEDIGREE  OF  DE  VETERI-PONTE. 
(BRITISH  MUSEUM,  COTTON  MS.  JULIUS  F.  XL,  f.  47,  temp.  ELIZABETH.) 


ROBERTUS  DE  VETERl-PoNTE,  primus  Dominus 
de  Westmorland,  tempore  Regis  Johannis. 


Ivo,  frater  Robertii  de  Veteri-Ponte,  unus 
Consiliariorum  regis  Johannis,  — zvoVMath., 
Paris,  fol.  300. 


JOHANNES  DE  VETERI-PONTE,      FORTIA  nupta  Th. 
dominus  de  Westmorland.  filio  Wilelmi  filio 

Ranulphi. 

ROBERTUS  DE  VETERI-PONTE. 


t  NlCHOLAUS  DE  VESPONT. 


ISABELLA  nupta  Rogero 
de  Clyfford  junior!. 


IDONEA  nupta  Rogero 
de  Leyboume,  cui 
peperit  filium  Jo- 
hannem. 


ROBERTUS  DE 

VESPONT  obiit 
sine  prole. 


ELIZAB.  nupta 

Thorn,  de 

Blencer. 


JOHANNA  nupta 

Willelmi  de 

Whitton. 


*  Robert  de  Veteri-Ponte,  first  Lord  of  Westmoreland,  married  Idonea,  daughter  of  John  de 
Builly,  Lord  of  Tickhill,  &c.,  in  Yorkshire.  He  died  in  1228.  During  her  widowhood  "  Ydonea 
de  Veteri-Ponte  "  gave  to  the  Monks  of  Rupe  or  Roche  Abbey  in  that  county,  where  she  desired  to 
be  buried,  the  manor  of  Sandbec,  and  other  lands,  "in  dotem  ad  dedicationem  ecclesias  suae  de 
Rupe. " — -Journal  of  the  Archaological  Institute,  vol.  xxx.,  page  424.  It  is  recorded  also  that  according 
to  her  wish  she  was  interred  there  in  the  year  1241  with  great  honour  and  ceremony.  No  explanation 
is  found  of  the  incomprehensible  statement  in  the  foregoing  pedigree,  page  361,  that  she  was 
"  graundmother  of  her  husband."  Possibly  some  light  might  be  thrown  upon  it,  were  it  known  who 
was  the  wife  of  the  first  Lord's  grandson,  Robert,  third  and  last  Lord  of  Westmoreland,  who  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Evesham,  and  to  whom  it  is  further  stated  Henry  III.  "  gave  the  ward  of  his 
wife."  It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  he  married  Isabella,  daughter  of  John  Fitz-Piers,  Lord 
of  Berkhamstead,  son  of  Geoffry  Fitz-Piers  [Mandeville],  chief  of  the  Barons  of  England,  who  was 
created  Earl  of  Essex.  Idonea  may  have  been  his  second  wife.  John  de  Veteri-Ponte,  his  father, 
married  Sibel,  daughter  of  William  de  Ferrars,  seventh  Earl  of  Derby ;  her  sister  Alyanora  [Eleanor] 
has  been  mentioned  as  wife,  first,  of  William  de  Vallibus ;  secondly,  of  Roger  de  Quinci,  Earl  of 
Winchester  ;  and  thirdly,  of  Roger  de  Leybume. 

t  It  thus  appears  that  the  branch  of  the  family  commonly  designated  of  Tynedale  ended  in 
heiresses,  as  did  the  principal  Houses  of  de  Veteri-Ponte  of  Westmoreland,  and  of  Langton,  &c. 

Nicholas  de  Vespont  or  Veteri-Ponte,  mentioned  above,  was  alive  in  1311,  when  he,  with  ten 
other  knights  of  Sir  Robert  de  Clyfford  of  Appleby  (grandson  of  Sybella  de  Veteri-Ponte,  heiress 
thereof),  had  eighty  to  twenty  marks  each  for  their  horses  lost  in  a  foray  towards  Faringley,  under 
Sir  Robert  in  November  of  that  year. 

D  2 


364 


Playfair's 

British 

Antiquities, 

vol.  viii ,  p. 

103. 

Sir  Bernard 

Burke's 

Peerage  and 

Baronetage, 

Editions  from 

1829  to  1888. 

Anderson's 
Scottish 
Nation,  vol.  i 


Foster's 
Baronetage, 
pp.  117,  642. 


Playfair, 
Appendix, 
p.  civil. 


COCKBURN,  CALLED  OF  COCKBURN 
AND  RYSLAW,  BARONET. 

A  circumstantial  account  of  the  family  thus  designated  appears 
in  Playfair's  «  Baronetage  of  Scotland,"  and  the  same  with  some 
slight  variations,  is  also  found  in  later  publications,  such  as  Burke  s 
"Peerage  and  Baronetage,"  and  Anderson's  "Scottish  Nation 
The  information  furnished  to  the  first-named  industrious  author,  and 
so  published  by  him,  had  been  relied  upon  as  correct,  and  came  t 
be  adopted  in  most  of  its  details.     It  would  be  utterly  impossible 
for  the  compilers  of  genealogical  works  of  such  magnitude  to  test 
by  reference  to  charters,  and  other  authentic  sources  of  informa- 
tion the  truth  of  family  histories  supplied  to  them,  on  account  of 
the  great  labour  and  expense  attending  such  researches,  and 
from  year  to  year  many  very  erroneous  pedigrees  continue  to  be 

published. 

There  is  not  one,  perhaps,  in  the  category  so  wildly  imaginary, 
or  so  utterly  inconsistent  with  facts,  as  this.  It  is  rather  surprising 
that  Mr.  Playfair's  attention  had  not  been  drawn  to  its  fictitious 
nature,  when  he  was  confronted  with  the  names  of  such  incorporeal 
shadows  as  the  Baron  Kilkeith  and  Mary  Dalbneth,—  the  more 
especially  as  a  hereditary  title  was  claimed  for  their  proposed 
descendants,  of  which  there  is  no  record  of  its  having  ever  been 
conferred. 

It  is  all  the  more  singular  that  Mr.  Playfair,  who  evidently  did 
his  best  in  his  endeavour  to  make  his   "  British  Antiquities  "  a 
reliable  book  of  reference,  should  have  accepted  this  pedigree, 
regarding  the  correctness  of  which  he  seems  to  have  had  mis- 
givings.    In  a  note  to  his  "  Memoir  of  the  House  of  Langton,"  in 
a  later  part  of  vol.  viii.  [which  is  also  very  erroneous],  he  says— 
"  When  documents  have  been  destroyed  by  time,  it  may  naturally 
be  expected  that  some  differences  will  be  found  in  the  pedigree 
of  the  two  branches.     This,  however,  we  have  endeavoured  to 
guard  against,  by  the  most  elaborate  research  ;  but  when  there  are 
variations  which  cannot  be  corrected,  we  shall  do  our  duty  in 
recording  them,  fully  convinced  that  no  further  elucidation  can 
reasonably  be  hoped  for."   Those  who  made  searches  for  him  must 
have  been  astonishingly  careless,  as  a  reference  to  the  will  of  Sir 
James  Cockburn  of  Ryslaw,  Knight,  recorded   i6th   November 
1667,  would  have  at  once  brought  down  this  superstructure,  based 


365 

upon  the  assumption  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  baronet,  who  was 
possessed  likewise  of  the  important  estate  of  Cockburn. 

An  inspection  of  the  charters  noted  in  the  "  Registrum  Magni 
Sigilli "  would  likewise  have  prevented  Sir  James  Cockburn,  the 
Baron  of  Langton  in  Queen  Mary's  time,  and  his  immediate  suc- 
cessor, from  being  overlooked  in  his  account  of  the  House  of 
Langton.  Mr.  Playfair  did  his  best,  there  is  evidence  to  show,  to 
obtain  correct  information  regarding  its  later  chiefs.  The  then 
representative,  however,  did  not  afford  him  any.  He  was  a  soldier, 
occupied  with  the  business  of  the  important  appointments  he  held, 
and  no  genealogist.  So  this  author  appears  to  have  remained  in 
doubt  even  as  to  which  was  the  principal  one  of  the  "  two 
branches,"  as  he  styles  the  families  of  Langton  and  of  Ryslaw. 

Those  who  have  read  the  story  of  the  miserable  war  waged 
against  the  brave  natives  of  New  Zealand  cannot  but  be  struck  with 
the  many  points  of  similarity  between  the  old  Scottish  and  Maori 
chieftains.  Their  intense  attachment  to  their  ancestral  lands, 
belief  in  the  importance  of  their  position,  and  the  nobility  of  their 
ancestors,  were  alike. 

That  most  unjust,  wicked  war,  as  is  well  known,  originated  in 
the  attempt  to  wrest  from  the  natives  certain  fertile  lands  upon 
which  the  settlers  had  cast  covetous  eyes.  A  number  of  them 
had  purchased,  by  way  of,  his  right  thereto,  from  a  man  called 
Tiera,  who  asserted  he  was  the  chief.  The  Government  backed 
them,  and  the  minister  for  native  affairs  informed  the  Maories  that 
they  found  Tiera  to  be  a  man  of  equal  rank  with  Wi-Kingi,  a  noble 
of  ancient  descent.  The  statement  was  received  with  shouts  of 
derision.  "You  say,"  replied  Renata,  a  well-known  chieftain  of 
high  standing,  "  because  his  genealogy  is  published  by  you  pak- 
ehas  [strangers],  therefore  he  is  a  chief.  What  about  his  genealogy? 
Would  Wi-Kingi  publish  his  genealogy  ?  Is  it  not  known  through- 
out the  land  amongst  all  the  tribes  ?  I  know  this  man,  Tiera, — a 
fellow  of  little  note.  His  name  is  Manuka  [i.e.,  Te'-tree],  Scrub, 
and  nothing  more."  In  like  manner  General  Sir  James  Cockburn, 
Baronet  of  Langton,  very  probably  considered  that,  as  his  name 
and  family  were  so  well  known  in  Scotland,  it  was  unnecessary  for 
him  to  trouble  himself  about  a  published  pedigree. 

Not  a  few  baronetcies  have  been  assumed  in  Scotland  upon 
very  doubtful  right  thereto ;  but  the  descent  of  persons  claiming 
such  dignities  has  in  most  instances  been  made  out  with  an 
approach  to  accuracy,  and  the  fact  of  the  honours  claimed  having 
been  conferred  is  undoubted. 


366 


Sir  Bernard 
Burke's 
Peerage  and 
Baronetage, 
Editions  1829 
to  1878. 

Play  fair's 
Baronetage, 
p.  306. 

Anderson's 

Scottish 

Nation, 

vol.  i.,  p.  659. 


In  the  case,  however,  under  consideration,  a  title  has  been 
assumed  of  which  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  ever  created ;  and 
further,  it  is  alleged  to  have  been  bestowed  upon  a  Berwickshire 
landed  proprietor  who  never  existed. 

It  is  an  invidious  and  distasteful  task  to  interfere  with  such 
pretensions ;  but,  however  unpleasant  it  may  be,  and  however 
gladly  he  would  avoid  noticing  the  pedigree  altogether,  it  is  com- 
pulsory upon  the  compiler  of  this  history  of  the  Cockburns  to  do 
so,  otherwise  it  would  stand  as  a  challenge  to  the  correctness  of 
the  preceding  memoirs. 

The  assertion  in  the  initial  paragraph  of  the  genealogy  that 
the  House  of  Cockburn  was  noble  in  its  very  commencement  is 
to  a  certain  degree  correct ;  but  since  the  first-proved  ancestor 
placed  "  the  cock  "  upon  his  shield,  thousands  of  Cockburns  have 
been  born,  legitimate  and  illegitimate,  and  the  progenitors  of  the 
worthy  and  industrious  market  gardener  at  Plymouth  had  doubt- 
less, with  many  of  the  name,  passed  "  per  tot  casus  per  tot  dis- 
crimina  rerum." 

For  him  to  have  traced  his  descent  or  claimed  nobility  would 
have  been  a  difficult  undertaking,  and  he  would  himself  doubtless 
have  shrunk  from  such  an  enterprise. 

The  descent  of  the  so-called  Baronets  of  Cockburn  and 
Ryslaw  is  traced  in  the  printed  accounts  of  the  family  from — 

i.  JOHN,  stated  to  have  been  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  Sir 
William  Cockburn  of  Langton,  killed  at  Flodden,  who  succeeded. 
It  is  not  said  to  what  he  succeeded.  It  certainly  was  not  to  the 
estates  of  the  chief  of  the  House  of  Langton,  for  it  is  proved  by 
the  Crown  charters,  which  have  been  recited  in  their  place,  that 
Sir  James,  eldest  son  of  Alexander,  then  heir-apparent,  who  fell 
beside  his  father  on  that  battlefield,  was  his  grandfather's  suc- 
cessor. Neither  was  it  to  the  lands  of  Cockburn,  for  William,  the 
next  brother  of  the  above-named  Alexander,  reacquired  that 
estate,  of  which  he  had  charter  under  the  Great  Seal,  dated  151)1 
April  1527.  This  William,  being  a  personage  prominent  in 
history,  is  familiar  to  most  persons  versed  in  that  of  Scotland  in 
those  days,  and  his  wife,  Isobel  Home,  is  also  well  known. 

The  aforesaid  John,  the  claimed  ancestor  of  this  alleged 
knightly  family  of  Ryslaw  and  Cockburn,  is  given  for  wife  Mary 
Dalbneth,  daughter  of  the  Baron  Kilkeith,  Seneschal  of  Lennox. 
Who  this  person  was  it  is  not  possible  to  discover ;  his  name  is 
sought  for  in  vain  in  the  Register  of  the  Great  Seal  or  other 


36? 

public  records.     One  thing  is  very  certain,  namely,  that  he  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Lords  of  Lennox. 

So  far  as  history  is  consulted,  Mary  and  her  husband  John 
appear  utterly  mythical. 

II.  ALEXANDER  is  named  as  John's  successor,  and  is  stated  to 
have  married  Anne  Hepburne.     Alexander  Cockburn,  the  proved 
son  of  William,  above  referred  to,  and  of  Isobel  Home  his  wife, 
married  Helen  Hepburne,  whose  will  has  been  quoted.     He  can- 
not, of  course,  be  identified  with  the  son  of  John  Cockburn  and 
Mary  Dalbneth. 

III.  WILLIAM  COCKBURN,  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  stands  Burkes 
next  in  this  pedigree,  and  is  authoritatively  stated  to  have  been  p"ra&' and 

.,,.,,  .  -    ,  Baronetaet. 

thus  designated  as  proprietor  of  these  estates.  Edit.  1882, 

Unfortunately  for  the  correctness  of  the  assertion,  it  will  be  P-  289- 
seen  by  referring  to  the  account  of  James,  younger  brother  of 
Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  subsequently  known  as  Sir 
James  Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ryslaw,  that  this  gentleman  did  not 
acquire  that  small  property  until  1625,  and  that  previously  it  had 
not  belonged  to  any  Cockburn,  but  to  his  second  wife's  family, 
the  Kerrs. 

William,  the  imaginary  laird  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  is  said 
to  have  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  John  Spottiswoode  of 
Spottiswoode,  County  Berwick. 

There  appears  to  be  as  much  difficulty  about  this  lady  as 
about  her  supposed  husband. 

The  records  of  the  family  of  Spottiswoode  as  printed  are,  no   R.  R.Stodart's 
doubt,  as  the  late  Mr.  Stodart  observes,  incorrect ;  but  the  time  *f £*  A™£ 
at  which  this  Margaret  is  supposed  to  have  lived  is  not  so  remote 
as  to  account  for   her  being  overlooked,  especially  by   Father 
Augustin    Hay,  from  whose  interesting  notes  about  his  mother 
Jean    Spottiswoode's   family    it   may    not   be    out   of  place   to 
give  here  some   extracts.      Jean  Spottiswoode   married  first  his 
father,    George    Hay,    son   of   Sir    George  Hay   of  Barra,    and 
secondly   James    Sinclair   of   Roslin,  and  had  families  by   both 
husbands.     She  was  the  grand-daughter  of  James  Spottiswoode,   ?url*f'j 
Bishop  of  Clogher,  brother  of  John  Spottiswoode,  Archbishop  of  Gentry,  vol.  ii., 
St.  Andrews,  who  has  been  erroneously  supposed  to  have  sold  the   p-  ?5°2> 
paternal  estate.     The  Archbishop  never  possessed  Spottiswoode,       "'       ' '  , 
which  was  repurchased  in  1 700  by  John  Spottiswoode,  his  great-  Scottish  Arms, 
grandson.  vo1-  »•»  P-  22°- 


368 

Father  Hay,  who  was  Canon  Registrar  of  Saint  Genevieve  of 
c  savs— "  The  most  remarkable  of  the  surname  was  Mr. 
pots^od,  a  sone  of  the  house  of  Spotswood  in  the  Merss, 
within  the  Barony  of  Gordon,  Superintendent  of  Lothian,  t 
Merss  and  Teviotdale,  which  by  the  space  of  twenty  years  he 
governed  most  wisely.  He  espoused  Beatrix  Creichton,  a  greave 
matron,  and  a  daughter  of  the  house  of  Lugton,  near  Dalkeith. 
He  died  Sth  December  1585,  being  about  77  years  of  adge.  ... 
His  father  was  killed  at  Flowdown,  in  the  unfortunate  battle 
wherein  King  James  the  Fourth  died,  and  he  left  an  orpheline  of 
fower  years  of  adge. 

"His  childring  were  John  and  James.  John,  who  was 
in  1565  succeeded  his  adged  father  in  the  personage  of  Calder 
att  eighteen  years  of  adge-anno  1610.  He  was  consecrated 
Archbischope  of  Glasgow,  and  removed  from  thence  to  St. 
Andrews.  He  crowned  Charles  Ist  in  1633  at  Holy-rood  House, 
was  made  Chancellor  after  the  Erie  of  Kinnoul's  death,  anno  1635, 
which  honour  he  enjoyed  to  his  death  with  the  approbation  of  all 
honest  men.  As  for  the  issue  of  his  body,  it  was  numerous ;  but 
of  all  his  childring  three  only  came  to  perfect  adge,  whom  he  had 
by  Rachel  Lindesay,  daughter  to  David  Lindsay,  Bishop  of  Ross, 
of  the  House  of  Edzell,  ane  honorable  family  in  Scotland. 

"  His  eldest  son  was  Sir  John  Spotswood  of  Darsy,  a  sufferer 
with  Montrosse  on  the  King's  account.  His  second  son  was  Sir 
Robert  Spotswood  of  New  Abbey  and  Pentland.  I  have  heard 
one  John  Doby,  a  tenant  of  Roselyne,  who  knew  Sir  Robert  par- 
ticularly, tell  that  he  was  a  proper  man,  and  rode  exceedingly 

well  the  horse,  and  was  a  great  hunter Sir  Robert 

Spotswood,  a  man  worthy  of  everlasting  memory,  was  found  guilty 
of  high  treason,  which  is  the  more  to  be  lamented,  because  he 
never  bore  arms  against  them,  not  knowing  what  belonged  to  the 
drawing  of  a  sword.  The  only  charge  against  him  was  that,  by 
the  King's  command,  he  brought  his  letters  patent  to  Montrosse. 
....  When  he  was  about  to  die,  one  Blair,  fearing  the  eloquence 
of  so  gallant  a  man,  procured  the  Provost  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had 
been  one  of  his  father's  servants,  to  stop  his  mouth.  ...  Sir 
Robert,  after  some  discourse,  laid  down  his  neck  to  the  fatal  stroake. 
....  The  third  child  of  Archbischope  Spottiswood  was  Anna, 
married  to  Sir  William  Sinclair  of  Rosline,  one  of  the  antient 
barons  of  that  antient  kingdom  of  Scotland.  She  bore  him  John, 
surnamed  'the  Prince,'  and  James,  who  redeemed  the  lands  of 
Rosline,  and  married  my  mother,  Jean  Spottiswood." 


Margaret,  the  mother  of  the  so-called  first  Baronet  of  Cockburn 
and  Ryslaw,  was  not  therefore,  so  far  as  Father  Hay  knew,  the 
daughter  of  any  of  the  John  Spottiswoodes  above  mentioned,  nor 
could  she  have  been  the  daughter  of  the  Archbishop's  cousin,  John 
Spottiswoode  of  that  Ilk,  about  whose  killing  Matthew  Sinclair 
extracts  have  been  quoted  at  page  xvii.  of  the  introduction  to  these 
memoirs,  for  he  died  without  issue.  She  may  have  been  the 
daughter  of  some  scion  of  the  family  not  mentioned  in  any  record, 
and  certainly  never  Laird  of  Spottiswoode. 

The  idea  of  giving  the  first  baronet  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw 
Margaret  Spottiswoode  as  his  mother  arose  no  doubt  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  John  Cockburn  of  Cockburn  marrying  Margaret, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Spottiswoode,  minister  of  Longformacus. 

To  proceed,  as  alluded  to  above,  the  only  son  of  William  Cock- 
burn  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw  and  the  said  Margaret  Spottis- 
woode is  placed  as  next  ancestor,  namely — • 

IV.  JOHN  COCKBURN  of  Ryslaw,  who  is  asserted  to  have  been  Anderson's 
created  a  baronet  of  Nova  Scotia  in   1628.     He  is  not  given  ^'2>«  c 
Cockburn  in  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  work,  but  is  endowed  with  that  p.  659,'&c.' 
estate  in  other  accounts.     He  is  called  James  by  Playfair.  Burke 

It  was  not  a  happy  imagination  of  the  inventor  of  this  pedigree 
to  put  John  in  possession  of  these  lands  in  this  particular  year  ;  for 
on  the  20th  March  1628  John  Cockburn  of  Cockburn  and  James 
Cockburn  of  Ryslaw,  with  the  latter's  cousin,  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Swintons  of 
Caldra,  are  found  witnessing  the  execution  of  a  deed  together.          clxxviii.)  PP 

Sir  John  Cockburn,  Baronet,  is  further  stated  to  have  married  clxxx., 
Mary,  daughter  of  William  Scott  of  Harden.     There  is  as  much  APPendlx- 
or  more  difficulty  about  Mary  Scott  as  Margaret  Spottiswoode. 

Sir  William  Scott  of  Harden  [son  of  Auld  Wat]  died  in  1655, 
having  married  Sir  Gideon  Murray  of  Elibank's  daughter.  Their 
story  is  very  familiar.  They  had  three  daughters,  married  respec- 
tively to  Ker  of  Greenhead,  Ker  of  Mersington,  and  Murray  of 
Philiphaugh.  No  marriage  of  a  Cockburn,  Baronet  of  Ryslaw, 
nor  indeed  of  any  one  of  the  name  of  Cockburn,  to  a  daughter  of 
the  House  of  Harden,  maiden  or  widow,  or  of  any  connection 
between  the  families  since  the  time  Walter  Scott  of  Synton 
married  Marjorie,  daughter  of  William  Cockburn  of  Henderland, 
is  mentioned  by  any  historian  of  the  House  of  Scott, — not  by 
Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Abbotsford  himself  in  his  MS.  account  of  the 
Scotts  of  Harden,  his  own  immediate  ancestors.  So  notable  an 
alliance  as  that  between  Mary,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Scott  of 


370 

Harden,  and  the  first  Baronet  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  would 
have,  one  would  have  thought,  been  sure  to  have  been  recorded. 

V.  Sir  JAMES  COCKBURN,  eldest  son  of  the  above-named  Sir 
John  and  Mary  his  wife,  stands  as  second  Baronet. 

He  is  given  for  wife  "  Jean,  daughter  of  Alexander  Swinton  of 
that  Ilk,  shire  of  Berwick."  This  is  the  boldest  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  unlucky  guess  hazarded  in  this  pedigree, 
which  seems  only  matched  by  the  famous  one  of  Coulthart  of 
Coulthart. 

We  know  from  the  authentic  records  of  this  ancient  house  that 
Jean,  daughter  of  Sir  Alexander  Swinton  of  Swinton,  did  marry 
[as  his  first  wife]  James  Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ryslaw,  and  from  his 
own  will,  that  this  gentleman  [who,  instead  of  being  eldest  son 
and  heir  of  a  baronet  of  Cockburn  and  Ryslaw,  was  the  younger 
Ante,  p.  298.  brother  of  Christopher  Cockburn  of  Choicelee]  directed  that  he 
should  be  buried  beside  her  in  the  aisle  at  Fogo  Kirk,  and 
appointed  his  next  brother,  John  of  Caldra,  tutor  to  his  five  sons 
and  his  daughter.  The  eldest  son  by  Jean  Swinton  was  James, 
who  succeeded  to  Ryslaw,  which  place,  after  having  been  in  his 
own  and  his  father's  possession  about  seventy  years,  was  sold  under 
decreet  of  the  Court  of  Session. 

Notwithstanding  the  statement  by  Sir  James  Cockburn  him- 
self, in  his  registered  will,  that  he  had  five  sons — James,  Alexander, 
Andrew,  Henry,  and  John — to  each  of  whom  he  left  legacies,  and 
despite  the  retour  in  the  public  archives  of  "  Jacobus  Cockburn 
de  Ryslaw  haeres  domini  Jacobi  Cockburn  de  Ryslaw  militis,"  the 
singularly  rash  genealogist  of  this  new  family,  says  that — 

VI.  Sir  WILLIAM,  only  son  of  Sir  James,  succeeded  as  third 
Baronet,  and  was  himself  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son— 

VII.  Sir  JAMES,  as  fourth  Baronet,  who  was  succeeded  by  his 
great-grandnephew  William,  as  fifth  Baronet.     This  great-grand- 
nephew  may  have  had  a  hereditary  title  conferred  upon  him.     As 
he  lived  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  the  record  of  it  should 
be  found. 

It  is  quite  impossible,  seeing  that  for  the  six  generations  now 
followed  not  one  claimed  ancestor  can  be  identified  as  belonging 
to  any  known  family  of  the  Cockburns,  to  say  from  whom  those 
so-called  baronets  sprang,  or  who  was  the  distinguished  ancestor 
upon  whom  the  title  was  conferred.  It  is  absolutely  certain  that 


there  was  no  such  person  as  William  Cockburn  of  Cockburn  and 

Ryslaw,  whose  son  is  stated  to  have  been  created  a  baronet.     It 

is  also  absolutely  certain  that  James  Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ryslaw, 

who  married  Jean  Swinton,  was  not  the  recipient  of  the  honour. 

We  do  not  know  where  all  the  succeeding  baronets  mentioned 

lived,  nor  where  their  estates  lay.     It  was  not  in  the  county  of 

Berwick ;  there  is  no  trace  of  them  in  the  records  of  that  shire. 

There  was  no  hereditary  title,  so  far  as  known,  in  the  family  of 

Cockburn  of  Cockburn ;  most  assuredly  no  Nova  Scotia  Baronetcy. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary,  however,  to  allude  to  this,  as  the  descent 

is  not  attempted  to  be  traced  from  that  branch,  although  possession 

of  their  estates  is   claimed   for   the   said  William    Cockburn    of 

Ryslaw  and  his  descendants.     The  history  of  that  family  is  clear. 

None  of  its  representatives  married  daughters  of  the  Houses  of 

Swinton  or  Scott  of  Harden ;  nor  did  any  Cockburn  of  Cockburn 

ever  possess  Ryslaw.     It  is  rather   surprising   that  the  mistake 

should  now  be  repeated.     In  an  article  lately  published  regarding  Article  by  H. 

Colonel  James  Cockburn,  mentioning  his  fate  after  the  surrender   Manners 

of  St.   Eustatia   to   the   French,   it  is   stated  that  his   son,  who  Dictionary^/ 

assumed  the  baronetcy,  succeeded  to  the  estates  of  Cockburn  and  National 

Ryslaw,  both  of  which  properties  had  passed  from  the  Cockburns  ^g|Tf^  ix 

altogether  before  he  was  born.  p.  188. 

The  present  representative  of  the  family  under  notice  has 
doubtless  taken  for  granted  that  the  pedigree  which  has  appeared 
in  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  "Peerage  and  Baronetage"  yearly  since  1829 
is  founded  upon  facts,  or  he  would  have  taken  steps  to  have  it 
eliminated  or  corrected.  Notes  respecting  the  principal  families 
already  alluded  to — the  Spottiswoodes,  Scotts,  and  Swintons: — are 
appended  to  the  original  memoir  in  "  Playfair's  Baronetage,"  and 
one  also  regarding  the  House  of  Devereux  in  Ireland)  the  representa- 
tion of  which  is  claimed  through  Laatitia,  daughter  of  Luke  Little. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  the  great  Norman  House  of  Devereux 
is  at  present  represented  by  Lord  Hereford,  Premier  Viscount  of 
England,  and  that  the  family  became  directly  allied  to  that  of 
Cockburn  by  the  marriage  of  General  Sir  James  Cockburn, 
Baronet  of  Langton,  with  the  Honourable  Mariana  Devereux, 
eldest  daughter  of  George  Devereux,  thirteenth  Viscount  Hereford. 
To  their  daughter  Mariana  Augusta,  Lady  Hamilton  of  Wood- 
brooke,  County  Tyrone,  now  the  representative  of  the  Baronial 
House  of  Langton,  this  account  of  her  ancestors,  and  of  the 
lamilies  established  as  cadets  thereof,  is  dedicated. 

The  arms  claimed  by  the  above  family  are  those  of  Langton, 
with  a  man's  heart  gules  on  the  fesse  point  of  their  shield,  as 
carried  by  Sir  James  Cockburn,  Knight  of  Ryslaw.  They  also 
assume  the  supporters  of  Langton. 

E  2 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


ABERCORN,  Mill  of,  224. 
Abernethy,  Sir  Hugh,  6. 
„  Sir  William. 

The,  343. 

Agnew,  Patrick,  of  Lochnaw,  231. 
Acheson,  Alexander,  of  Gosford,  91. 

,,  John,  his  Son,  357,  Note  VII. 

,,         Sir  Archibald,  of  Gosford,  91. 

,,         Margaret,  Wife  of  Sir  William  Cockburn,  first  Baronet 

of  Langton,  91. 
Affleck  Hill,  Lands  of,  265. 
Albalanda,  Abbot  of,  121. 
Albany,  Alexander,  Duke  of,  xxii.,  308. 
,,       John,  Duke  of,  58. 
,,       Murdach,  Duke  of,  342,  345,  348. 
,,       Robert,  Duke  of,  45,  115. 
Aldincraw,  Adam  de  Aldingrawe,  49. 
,,          Agnes,  53,  79. 
„          Magdalen,  299. 
,,          William  de  Awdencraw,  289. 
,,          William  de,  of  East  Reston,  50. 
Aldiriston,  Lands  of,  120. 
Alexander,  Sir  William,  88,  89. 
Alston,  Lands  of,  27. 
Alves,  Henrietta,  286. 
Ancrum,  William,  of  Duns,  99. 

,,         Mary,  Wife  of  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  of  Langton, 

99,  too. 

Anketin,  Prior  of  Coldingham,  51. 
Appleby,  Lords  of,  16,  20. 
Armstrong,  Christopher,  122. 
„  Archibald,  122. 

,,          John,  of  Gilnockie,  122,  184,  186,  188,  189,  190,  195. 
Arnold,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  23. 
Arnot,  John,  of  Pitmedden,  349. 
„       of  Chapel-Kettle,  350. 

,,       William,  Postmaster  of  Cockburn's-path,  293. 
Arran,  The  Regent,  195. 
Arthur,  Prince,  20. 
Athelstane,  K.,  Charter  from,  29. 
Ascough,  Dean  of  Bristol,  104. 

,,        Augusta- Anne,  Wife  of  Sir  William  Cockburn,  Bart. 

of  Langton,  104. 
Astley,  Sir  John,  Bart.,  108. 

,,  Hugh  Francis,  his  Son,  108. 

Athole,  Sir  Adomar  de  Athol,  173. 

,,       Dukes  of,  304. 
Avenel,  Gervase,  l&a. 
Auchtirdiran,  Parish  of,  336. 
Auchenleck,  Archibald,  of  Cumledge,  295. 
Aylmor,  Roger  de,  14. 


BAILLIE,  Alexander,  of  Ashestiel,  73. 

„          Marion,  73. 

,,  Hon.  and  Rev.  John,  105. 

,,  Thomas,  of  Polkemmet,  72. 

,,  of  Lamington,  200. 

Bain,  Mr.  Joseph,  ix.,  338. 
Bainbridge,  Mr.,  41. 
Baird,  Sir  John,  of  Newbyth,  93. 
Balcaskie,  Sir  John,  Chaplain  of  Dalkeith,  201. 

„         William  of,  173. 

,,         Lands  of,  201. 
Baldene,  Lands  of,  230,  231. 
Baliol,  Ada  de,  335. 

„       Sir  Alexander  de,  13,  334. 
,,       Henry  de  Ballyol,  13,  29,  334. 
„       Monsire  Thomas  de,  of  Cavers,  13. 
Balfour,  David,  of  Bal-Or,  349. 

,,       Sir  James,  Lyon  King  of  Arms,  333. 
,,       Sir  James,  of  Burley,  242. 
,,       Sir  Michael,  of  Burley,  296. 
Balnehard,  Lands  of,  55,  345. 
Bamborough,  Castle  of,  10,  339. 
Bannockburn,  Battle  of,  II. 
Bankes,  W.,  of  Wolverton,  108. 
Barcar,  Alexander,  Vicar  of  Pettynane,  268. 
Barnsley  [or  Brunstoun],  347. 
Barrowfield,  Estate  of,  40,  218. 

Bastie,  Sir  Anthony  Darcy  de  la,  xiv.,  xv.,  64,  309,  310. 
Becket,  Thomas,  Archbishop,  17". 
Beaton  or  Bethune,  Cardinal,  128-131,  187,  267. 

Lady  Janet,  135. 
Bedgeberry  Park,  158. 
Belford,  House  of,  73. 
Bell,  Andro,  187. 
Bellenden,  Lands  of,  173. 

,,        Annabell,  282. 

„         Sir  Hugh,  4. 

,,         Sir  John,  of  Auchinoule,  142. 

,,  Elizabeth,  his  Daughter,  142. 

,,         Sir  Louis,  Justice-Clerk,  274,  282. 

„         Mr.  Walter,  142. 
Beniton,  Manor  of,  335. 
Bennet,  Lady  Frances,  105. 
Benystoune,  Alexander  of,  289. 
Bigod,  Roger  le,  19. 

Birgham,  Lands  of,  xxvi.,  xxvii.,  105,  308,  312,  319. 
Bizzet,  Cecilia,  of  Lovat,  223. 
Blackadder  River,  73,  221. 

,,  Bridge  over,  297. 

,,  Laird  of,  56. 

Sir  Robert  of,  65,  310. 


376 


INDEX. 


Blackadder,  Beatrice,  his  Daughter,  65,  80. 

Margaret,  his  Daughter,  65,  80. 
Blairquhan,  Kennedy  of,  245. 
Ulakstok,  Andrew,  234,  235. 
Blare  de  Crambeth,  Lands  of,  346,  347- 
Blasonbrade,  I,ands  of,  73,  221. 
Blayc,  Castle  of,  32. 

Boithill  [Bold],  Lands  of,  172,  l?6,  I»4- 
Boltoun,  Barony  of,  37,  38,  120,  331. 
„        Church  of,  23,  120. 
„        Kirklands  of,  120. 
Bonekylshire,  HL,  xi. 
Bonkyl,  Castle  of,  xi.,  xxx. 

Family  of,  Hi.,  v.,  x.,  xi.,  xxv. 
,,       Sir  Alexander  de,  vi.,  ix.,  x. 
,,       Alesaundre  de,  v. 
„       Anneys  de,  x. 
,,      Chrestiene  de,  x. 
,,      Johan  de,  x.,  -\i. 
,,       Margaret  de,  vi.,  ix.,  x.,  8. 
„       Mariota  de,  xi. 
„       Michael  de,  xi. 
,,       Kanulf  de,  v. 
,,      Thomas  de,  xi. 
,,       Arms  of,  iii.,  40. 
Bordeaux,  Traders  to,  32. 
Borg,  Douglas  of,  126,  229,  265,  267,  292. 
Borthwick,  John  Lord,  236. 
,,          Thomas,  121. 
„          Heryng,  Adam,  of,  222. 
„          Heryng,  Peronel  de,  of,  222,  341. 
Boswall,  Sir  Alexander,  of  Balmuto,  61. 
„         David,  179. 
„        John,  of  Bowhill,  61. 
„        Roger  Boisvill,  336. 
Bowmaker,  John,  299. 

Boyd,  Marion,  Wife  of  Francis  Cockburn  of  Temple. 
„     Robert,  Lord,  94. 

,,     Robert,  Lord,  Commissioner  for  Qaeen  Mary,  243. 
„     Robert,  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  142,  143- 
Brandisson,  Mary  de,  86. 

Branxholm,  Margaret  Cockburn,  Domina  de,  174. 
Lands  of,  II,  173,  174. 
Hall,  184. 

„  Knight  of,  185. 

Brechin,  Sir  David  de,  vi.,  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  9,  33. 
Brimelaw,  Lands  of,  185,  213. 
Broughton  Place,  Edinburgh,  304. 
Broun,  John,  of  Cumber-Colston,  268. 
„  Rolland,  his  Son,  268. 

,,      Bran  Godfrey,  of  Cumber-Colstone,  A.D.  1306,  15. 
Brounfields,  Three  Brethren  of  the,  57. 

,,  Stephen,  of  Greenlawdene,  294. 

Brougham  Castle  and  Lordship  of,  Ija,  I&a,  20. 
Brown,  Alexander,  of  Thorniedykes,  323. 
Bruce,  David,  of  Clackmannan,  42. 
„      Robert,  Earl  of  Carrik,  THE  BRUCE,  vii.,  338. 
„      Edward,  16,  168. 
,,       Eleanor,  her  five  Husbands,  43. 
,,       F.upham,  236. 


Bruce,  Geoffrey  de,  20. 
„       Nigel  de,  16. 
„      Piers  de,  iSa. 
Brunston,  Creichton  of,  266. 
Brunetoun,  Estate  of,  344.  345'  347.  34&- 
Buchan,  Earl  of,  179,  180. 
,,      of  Lethame,  156. 
Buchanan,  Patrick,  of  that  Ilk,  347. 
Buccleuch,  The  Bold,  173,  183. 
Bullock,  John  [Master  Conner],  64,  254. 
Builly,  John  de,  Lord  of  Tickhill,  21. 

Idonea,  his  Daughter,  21,  363,  Note. 
,,       Roger  de,  263. 

Rafe  de  Bully,  262. 
William,  Custumar,  262. 
Buncle,  Parish  of,  v. 
Burgo,  Hubert  de,  20,  21. 

,,  Magota,  his  Daughter,  2O. 

Burke,  Sir  Bernard,  Vicissitudes  of  Families,  215. 
Burnett,  Mr.,  Lyon  King  of  Arms,  xxvi. 
,,      Robert,  of  Barns,  181. 
,,       Thomas,  of  Inverleith,  149. 

William,  younger  of  Barns,  181. 
Butterdene,  Lands  of,  289. 
Butler,  John,  of  Harperdean,  150. 
„       Isobel,  150. 
„       Peter,  of  Harperdean,  150. 

CAERLAVEROCK,  Siege  of,  9. 

Caithness,  Earl  of,  99. 

Calderwood,  Thomas,  300. 

Caldra,  Lands  of,  291,  301. 

Caldwell,  Sir  Benjamin,  151. 

Cambuskenneth,  Abbot  of,  257,  291. 

Campbell,  Archibald,  Lady  Glamis'  Husband,  191. 

John,  of  Glenorchy,  first  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  94,  99, 
100,  101,  324. 

Mary,  his  Daughter,  99,  100,  357  [Note  X.]. 
,,         John,  fourth  Marquess,  109. 
,,         Matthew.  228. 
Canonbie,  56,  5^- 
Carberry  Hill,  Battle  of,  xxx.,  66. 
Cardrona,  Govane  of,  214. 
Carmichael,  John,  Earl  of  Hyndford,  158,  205. 
,,  Lady  Beatrix,  his  Daughter,  158. 

Helen,  Wife  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Skirling, 

246,  247,  250. 

„  Katherine,  233,  237,  238. 

„          Robert,  274. 
,,  Sir  Thomas  Gibson,  Bart.,  236. 

Carlinlippis  [Carlops],  266. 
Carnegie,  David,  Erie  of  Sowthesk,  214. 
,,        James,  Erie  of  Sowthesk,  214. 
,,         Robert,  Erie  of  Sowthesk,  214. 
,,         Robert,  of  Kinnaird,  69,  70. 
Carriden,  Barony  of,  18,  22,  37,  59,  60,  68,  81,  331. 
„          Coal  Seams  of,  25,  26. 
,,          Godwin  de,  23. 
Carron,  Earl  Douglas  discomfited  at,  175. 
Carss,  Mark,  of  Cockpen,  151. 


INDEX. 


377 


Cathie,  Thomas,  296. 

Cavers  Barony,  13. 

Charteris  of  Amisfield,  285. 

Cauldstreme — See  Coldstream. 

Cessford,  Cockburn  of,  219,  220,  224,  225,  251. 

„         Ker  of,  225-251. 

,,         St.  Clair  of,  219,  251. 
Chamerlane-Newtoun,  Barony  of,  122. 
Chepman,  Walter,  of  Ewerland,  266,  312,  313. 
Chirnside  of  that  Ilk,  65. 

,,         of  East  Nisbet,  75. 

, ,         Lands  of,  289. 
Clackmannan,  Mill  of,  42. 
Clare,  Johanne  de,  Countess  of  Fife,  344. 
„     Gilbert  de,  344. 
,,     Matillidis,  Countess  de  Clare,  24. 
„     Maude  de,  24,  361  [Pedigree]. 
,,     Thomas  de,  her  Father,  24. 
Clerk  of  Pennicuik,  210. 
Clerkenwell,  Church  of,  355,  Note  III. 
Clifford,  Roger,  21,  361  [Pedigree]. 

,,        Thomas  de,  23,  361  [Pedigree]. 
Cockbum,  Name  of,  xi.,  xii.,  xx. 

,,         Dominium  of,  xi.,  xx.,  xxii.,  xxv.,  xxvii.,  308. 

,,         Castle  of,  xi.,  xxviii.,  309. 
Cockbum's  Barns,  Simprim,  94. 
Cockburnlaw,  Hill  of,  xi.,  20,  59. 
Cockburnhaugh,  Lands  of,  52. 
Cockbum's- Path,  Castle  of,  xx. 

,,  Territory,  223,  308. 

,,  Mains  of,  223. 

COCKBURN  Family,  their  Feuds,  xvii. 

„          ofLANGTON,  1-109. 

,,          of  ORMISTON,  110-160. 

,,          of  HENDERLAND,  161-215. 

„          of  SKIRLING  and  CESSFORD,  216-256. 

,,          of  CLERKINGTON,  257-287. 

,,          of  CHOICELEE,  288-306. 

,,          of  COCKBURN,  307-330. 

„  of  TORRY,  &C.,  331-351. 

,,  of  Blackismiln,  78,  303. 

,,  of  Caldra,  291-301. 

,,  of  Caverhill,  241. 

,,  of  Cockpen,  150. 

,,  of  Dalqueich,  346. 

,,  of  East  Borthwick,  54,  70,  71,  72. 

,,  of  East  Reston,  79. 

,,  of  Glen,  1 80. 

,,  of  Gleneagles,  156. 

,,  of  Herperden,  150. 

„  of  Kirkurd,  235. 

,,  of  Kirklands  of  Bolton,  120. 

,,  of  Ladiekirk,  300. 

,,  of  Lethame,  237. 

,,  of  Leyiswood,  72,  78. 

,,  of  Meredene,  124. 

, ,  of  Newholme,  73>  236. 

,,  of  Piltoune,  143,  149,  150,  283. 

,,  of  Rowchester,  73,  74- 
of  Ryslaw,  297,  356. 


COCKBURN  of  Sandybed,  156. 

,,  of  Selburnrigg,  72,  74,  237. 

,,  of  Stobbiswood,  296. 

,,  of  Stonyflat,  252. 

,,  of  Tempillhall,  137,  138. 

,,  of  Vogrie,  305. 

,,  ofWoodhead,  124. 

,,  I.  PIERS  OF  COCKBURN,  i. 

„  II.  SIR  ROBERT,  4. 

,,  III.  NIGEL,  6,  14. 

„  IV.  SIR  THOMAS,  n,  17. 

,,  V.  SIR  ALEXANDER,  Usher  of  Parliament,  18. 

,,  VI.  SIR  ALEXANDER,  Keeper  of  Great  Seal,  42. 

„  VII.  SIR  WILLIAM,  47. 

,,  VIII.  WILLIAM,  49. 

,,  IX.  ALEXANDER,  53. 

,,  X.  SIR  WILLIAM,  54. 

,,  XI.  SIR  JAMES,  64. 

,,  XII.  WILLIAM,  80. 

,.  XIII.  SIR  WILLIAM,  83. 

„  XIV.  SIR  WILLIAM,  first  Baronet,  87. 

,,  XV.  SIR  ARCHIBALD,  second  Baronet,  92. 

„  XVI.  SIR  ARCHIBALD,  third  Baronet,  98. 

„  XVII.  SIR  ALEXANDER,  fourth  Baronet,  98. 

„  XVIII.  SIR  ALEXANDER,  fifth  Baronet,  100. 

,,  XIX.  SIR  ALEXANDER,  sixth  Baronet,  102. 

„  XX.  SIR  JAMES,  M.P.,  seventh  Baronet,  102. 

„  XXI.  General  SIR  JAMES,  G.C.H.,  eighth  Baronet, 

106. 

„  XXII.  Admiral  SIR  GEORGE,  G.C.B.,  ninth  Baronet, 

107. 

„  XXIII.  Very  Rev.  SIR  WILLIAM,  tenth  Baronet,  108. 

„  XXIV.  SIR   ALEXANDER,    Lord    Chief-Justice    of 

England,  eleventh  Baronet,  109. 
Sir  Piers  de  Cokburn,  7. 

„  Sir  James,  of  Skirling,  77,  241. 

„  Sir  James,  of  Ryslaw,  297,  356,  359. 

,,  Sir  George,  of  Ormiston,  147. 

„  General  Sir  George,  K.C.B.,  of  Shanganak,  151. 

,.  Sir  John,  of  Ormiston,  116. 

,,  Sir  John,  of  Ormiston,  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  141. 

,,  Adam,  Lord  Ormiston,  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  154. 

,,  Baron  Archibald,  of  Cockpen,  152. 

,,  Henry,  Lord  Cockburn,  xiv.,  152. 

,,  Sir  John,  of  Torry,  342. 

,,  Sir  John,  of  Dalginche,  345. 

,,  Sir  John,  of  Trettoun,  346. 

„  Sir  Patrick,  318. 

,,  Sir  Richard,  of  Clerkington,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  280. 

,,  Sir  William,  of  Skirling  \   d  Cessford,  218,  219. 

,,  Sir  William,  fourth  of  SkfUing  and  Cessford,  225. 

„  Sir  William,  fifth  of  Skirling,  234. 

,,  Sir  William,  sixth  of  Skirling,  238. 

,,  Sir  William,  of  Skirling,  248. 

,,  Sir  William,  of  Henderland,  184. 

„  Henry,  thirteenth  Bishop  of  Ross,  229. 

„  Robert,  eighteenth  Bishop  of  Ross,  228,  229. 

,,  Baron,  of  Villeneuve-au-Chemin,  62. 

,,  Seigneur  and  Baron  de  Fussy,  63. 


378 


INDEX. 


COCKBURN,  AK..O,  Wife  of  William  Murray  of  Touchadam,  121. 
AKneN  Wife  of  Walter  Chepman  of  Ewmland,  266, 

3»2.  3I3- 

Agnes,       „       H.  Stafford  Northcote  of  Pynes,  74. 
Agnes,       „       James  Hamilton  of  Kincavil,  273. 
Anna,         ,,       Thomas  Baillie  of  Polkemmet,  72. 
Anna-Maria,  Baroness  Forrester,  158. 
Anne,  Wife  of  Sir  John  Inglis,  Bart,  of  Cramond,  157. 
John  Hay  of  Minzeane,  238. 
Sir  George  Hamilton  of  Preston, 

139.  279- 

Henry,  Lord  Sinclair,  153. 
Creichton  of  Lugton,  266. 
Lord  Oxford,  147. 
Gawen  Hamilton,  151. 
Sir  John  Preston  of  Craigmillar,  45. 
Sir   Robert    Sinclair   of   Longfor- 

macus,  Baronet,  157. 
James  Quhytelawof  Quhytelaw,  221. 
Alex.  Creichton  of  Newhall,  229. 
Robert  Scott  of  Quhitchester,  184. 


Barbara,      „ 
Barbara,      ., 

Barbara,  ,, 

Beatrix,  ,, 

Catherine,  „ 

Catherine,  ,, 

Christian,  ,, 

Christian,  , 

Christian,  ,. 

Christian,  , 

Christian,  , 

Christian,  , 

Elizabeth,  ,. 

Elizabeth,  „ 

Elizabeth,  ,. 

Elizabeth,  , 

Egidia  [Giles]  , 
Harlot, 

Helen, 
Helen, 

Helen,         . 
Helen, 

Helen, 
Helen, 
Helena, 
Isobel, 
Isobelle,      , 
Isobel,         , 
Issobel, 
Jean, 

Jean, 
Jean, 
Jeane, 
Jeane, 

,        Jeane, 
,       Jeane, 
,        Katherine, 
,        Katherine, 
,        Margaret, 
Margaret, 

,        Margaret, 
,        Margaret, 


W.  Chirnside  of  East  Nisbet,  75. 
John  Hepburne  of  Humbie,  326. 
Wm.  Murray  of  Stanhope,  205. 
John  Boswall  of  Bowhill,  61. 
Alexander  Murray  of  Traquair,  177. 
Sir  D.  Kinloch,  Bart,  of  Gilmerton, 

IOO. 

John  de  Mandiriston,  38. 

Sir  R.  Stewart,  Bart,  of  Allan- 
bank,  95. 

Patrick  Hepburne  of  Beanston,  279. 

John  Hamilton  of  Easter  Fawside, 
279. 

Alexander  Gourlay  of  Kincraig,l2O. 

Wm.  Hay  of  Linplum,  147. 

James  Heriot  of  Alderston,  126. 

Sir  D.  Crichton  of  Lugton,  250. 

John  Wardlawof  Riccarton,  266, 349. 

James  Cockburn  of  Selburnrigg,  237. 

David  Kincaid  of  Coittis,  238. 

Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkington, 

"53- 

Sir  John  Murray  of  Touchadam,  147. 

J.  Congleton  of  Skedsburgh,  149. 

Sir  John  Hamilton  of  Preston,  279. 

Robert  Hepburne  of  Keith-Mari- 
schall,  148. 

Alex.  Dunbar  of  West  Grange,  78. 

John  Renton  of  Billie,  61. 

James  Scott  of  Whitslaid,  205. 

John  Sinclair  of  Blanss,  311. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Kirkurd,  173. 

Sir  Alexander  Murray  of  Black- 
barony,  92,  282. 

Sir  Alexander  Gilmour,  Bart,  of 
Craigmillar,  92. 

John  Lindsay  of  Wauchopedale, 
176,  215. 


COCKBURN, Margaret,  Wifeof  James  Vache  of  Dawick,  182. 
,,        Margaret,      ,,     Gawin  de  Crichton,  53. 

Margaret,      „     Thomas  Middlemast  of  Grierstoun, 

220. 

Margaret,      ,.     Gideon  Murray,  285. 
Margaret,      ,,     Patrick,  Lord  Sinclair,  147. 
Margaret,      .,     Alex.  Home  of  Renton,  71. 
Margaret,      ,,     Patrick  Hepburne  of  White-Castle, 

68. 

Margaret,      ,,     Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerking- 
ton, 83,  281. 

Margaret,      „     John  Wardlaw  of  Torry,  346. 
Margaret,      „     Schaw  de  Blare,  347. 
Margaret,      „     James  Hamilton  of  Hill,  349. 
Marion,         ,,     Alexander  Sinclair  of  Gosford,  91. 
Marion,          ,,     Patrick  Tuedy,  220. 
Marion,          ,,     Hugh  Douglas  of  Borg,  126,  227. 
Marion,          ,,     Hugh     Douglas     of    Longniddry, 

125. 

,,        Marion,          „     P.  Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  238. 
Mariota,         ,,     Thomas  Otterburn  of  Reidhall,  68, 

356  [Note  VI.]. 
,,        Mariota,         ,,     Prioress,  North  Berwick,  60. 

Mariana-  j         (  Sir  James  John  Hamilton,  Bart., 
"         Augusta,  !     "  (       107. 

Marjorie,       ,,     Walter  Scott  of  Synton,  176. 
,,   Mary,  the  Hon.  „     Rev.  C.  Shuttleworth,  159. 
,,        Sybil,  ,,     James  Innes  of  Sandyside,  138. 

„        Sybil,  „     Sir   William    St.    Clair   of    Herd- 

mansion,  139. 
Cockburn-Campbell,  Sir  Alexander,  Baronet,  74. 

,,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet,  74. 

Cockburn-Hood,  John,  of  Stoneridge,  I,  74. 
Cockburn-Ross,  of  Shandwick,  63,  74. 
Cockpen,  Lands  of,  151. 
„       Ramsay  of,  151. 
„       Carss  of,  151. 
,,       Cockburn  of,  151. 
Colbrand  the  Dane,  xiii.,  xx. 
Colbrand's-Peth,  xii.,  xx.,  xxii. 

Colebrooke,  Henrietta,  Wife  of  Thomas  Cockburn,  74. 
Coldingham  Priory,  I,  23,  29,  50,  51. 
Coldynhenschyre,  iii. 
Coldstream,  Nunnery  of,  4. 
,,          Prioress  of,  289. 

,,          Little  haugh  of,  Fishings  in  Lordship  of,  290. 
Colston,  Broun,  Baronets  of,  268. 
Colville,  Alexander,  Justice-Depute,  Letter  from,  144. 
„       Sir  Robert  Colvyle,  339. 
„       Robert  of  Haltoun,  347. 
,,       of  Oxnam,  37. 
Comyn,  David,  334. 

,,       Devorgilla,  Wife  of  Sir  James  Sandilands,  137. 
Congleton  of  that  Ilk,  314. 

„         of  Skedsburgh,  149,  150. 
Copholme  in  Denmark,  318. 
Cornewall,  Patrick,  of  Balnehard,  55. 
Corwen  of  Galloway,  v. 
Coucy,  Ingleram  de,  218. 
„      Sir  William  de,  218. 


INDEX. 


Coulson  of  Houndwood,  96. 
Couper,  Tol  booth  of,  349. 
Coutts  of  London,  97,  195. 
Cowthally,  Castle  of,  233,  234. 
Cragi,  John  de,  39. 

,,     Margaret  de,  39,  216. 
„     Walter  de,  39. 
Craig,  James,  77. 
Craigmillar,  Castle  of,  46,  92. 
Craik,  Lands  of,  7,  121,  122,  135. 
Crake,  John  de,  10. 
Crambeth,  Barony  of,  347,  348. 
Cranschaws,  Lands  of,  260,  270. 
Cranstoun,  Lands  of,  179. 

,,         James,  Master  of,  283. 

Margaret,  Wife  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerkington 

283,  284. 

, ,         Cuthbert,  of  Mavis,  306. 
. ,         of  Glen,  182. 
Craw—  See  Aldincraw. 
Crawford,  Castle  of,  233. 
,,         Countess  of,  xxvi. 
,,         Lawrence  of  Kilbirnie,  235. 
Crawfordjohn,  Dominium  of,  116. 
Crichton,  Alexander,  of  Newhall,  229,  231,  264,  266. 
,,  Elizabeth,  his  Daughter,  murdered,  264. 

„         Andrew  of  Cardowne,  198,  248. 
„         David  de  Cranstoun- Redale,  119. 

Margaret,  his  Daughter,   Wife  of  J.   Cockburn  of 

Ormiston,  119,  121. 

Sir  David,  of  Lugton,  250,  358,  Note  XII. 
„         Elizabethe  de,  53,  54,  288. 
„        Gawen  de,  53,  54. 
„         Lawrence,  224. 
„         George,  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  239. 
„        John,  of  Quarter,  198. 
,,        James,  of  Coitts,  264. 
,,         Katrine,  264. 
„         Patrick,  of  Lugton,  266. 

Beatrix,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Rev.  John  Spottis- 

woode,  266,  360. 
„         Mr.  Peter,  264. 
„         Sir  Robert  de  Sanquhar,  224,  228,  251. 

Marion,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  William  Cock- 

bum,  228. 

„         of  Brunston,  129,  266. 
Crinan,  The  Thane,  iv. 
Cromartie,  Earl  of,  95. 
Cromwell,  John  de,  21. 
Cunningham,  Colonel  Hon.  Robert,  90,  91. 
,,  of  Polmaise-Cunningham,  180. 

„  James,  of  Cunningham-head,  324. 

„  Thomas,  of  Carrik,  221. 

Curmannos,  Barony  of,  18. 
Currie,  Lands  of,  265. 

DACRE,  Thomas,  Lord,  56,  57. 
,,         Sir  James,  49. 

Philip,  57. 
Dalbneth,  Mary,  356,  358,  359. 


379 


F   2 


Dalglese  [Dalgleish],  Lands  of,  122,  162. 
,,        Tribute  from,  163. 
,,        Family  of  Dalgleish,  162. 
,,        Rosamond,  of  Birgham,  106. 
Dalginche,  Dominium  of,  331,  343,  348, 
Dalkeith  Castle,  Siege  of,  258,  260. 
Dalrymple,  Sir  David  [Lord  Hailes],  15,  155. 

,,         John,  Burgess  of  Edinburgh,  357,  Note  VIII. 

Mirabelle,  his  Daughter,  357,  Note  VIII. 
Dalqueich,  Lands  of,  346. 
Dalmahoy  of  that  Ilk,  314. 
Danzielstown,  William,  70. 

Elizabeth,  Wife  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of  Clerking. 

ton,  272,  273. 
„  Family  of,  272. 

„  Mr.  Peter  [Dennelstoune],  83. 

Davidson,  John,  of  Burnrigg,  317. 
,        James,  in  Nodday,  317. 
,         T.  Randall,  of  Muirhouse,  152. 
Dawick,  Lands  of,  241. 
Deadrigg,  Obelisk  at,  167,  168. 
Deckesoun  [Dickson],  William,  180,  221. 

,,          John,  his  Father,  180,  221. 
Denbigh,  Basil,  Earl  of,  86. 
Dene-Estir,  Lands  of,  222. 
Devereux,  George,  thirteenth  Lord  Hereford,  107,  363. 

,,         Hon.  Mariana,  107,  363. 
Devis,  Edward,  301. 
Devorgilla  of  Galloway,  126. 

,,         Comyn,  137. 
Dewar,  James,  of  Vogrie,  153,  306. 
Dieuring  Downs  [Dirrington],  Quarries  of,  22. 

,,  Dirrington  Law,  72,  296. 

Dickson,  Thomas,  LL.D.,  xxiv. 
Dischington,  James,  214. 
Dolphinston,  Rector  of,  236. 
,,  Lands  in,  253. 

Don,  Alexander,  of  Newtown,  86. 
Douglas,  Alison,  Sister  of  Earl  of  Angus,  310. 

,,         Archibald,  fourth  Earl  of  Douglas,  48,  116,  257. 

„         Archibald,  Earl  [Bell-the-Cat],  179. 

„         Archibald,  of  Cavers,  13, 

„         Archibald,  of  Stanypath,  296. 

,,         Archibald,  sixth  Earl  of  Angus,  310,  311. 

,,         Elizabeth,  Wife  of  Samuel  Cockburn  of  Temple,  138. 
,,         Francis,  of  Longniddry,  125. 

„         Sir  George,  of  Pittendreich  and  Cockburnspath,  xxvi. 
„         Henry,  of  Friarshaw,  104,  106. 

Mary,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  James  Cockburn, 

Baronet  of  Langton,  104. 
„         Hew,  of  Borg,  126,  229,  265,  267. 

Marion,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Thomas  Cockburn  of 

Newhall,  265. 

,,         Hew,  of  Longniddry,  125,  292. 
„         Hugh,  Earl  of  Ormond,  115. 
„         Hugh,  Dean  of  Brechin,  xxvi. 
„         James,  Earl  of  Morton,  269. 
„         James,  Lord  Dalkeith,  260. 
,,         James,  ninth  Earl  of,  175,  261. 
James,  Earl  of  Avondale,  177. 


380 


INDEX. 


Douglas,  Sir  James,  "The  Good,"  has  Charter  of  Cockburn 

XXV. 

,,        James  of  Cavers,  13. 

,,        James,  of  Spot,  235. 

,,         Sir  James,  Baronet  of  Sprinj;woocl,  u^. 

,,        James,  Elder  "of  the  Kirk,"  213. 

,,        John,  liaillic  of  I-angton,  292. 

,,  Marion,  his  Daughter,  292,  294. 

,,         Sir  John,  Captain  of  Lochleven,  39. 

,,         Margaret,  "The  Gentle,"  Duchess  of  Touraine,  116. 

,.         Sir  Robert,  of  Lochleven,  346. 

,,         William,  takes  Edinburgh,  39. 

„         William,  of  Cluny,  175. 

,,         William,  Earl  of  Angus,  xxvi. 

,,  George,  his  Son,  xxvi. 

,,        of  Lintonrothhrekis,  13. 

,,         Sir  William,  Knight  of  Liddesdale,  171. 

„         Sir  William,  47,  342. 

.,         William,  of  Whittinghame,  263. 

,,         William  de,  carries  off  Alionora  de  Ferrers,  344. 
Drax,  Prior  of  Coldingham,  38. 
Dreux,  Count  of,  166. 
Drum,  Lands  of,  355,  Note  IV. 
Dryburgh,  Monastery  of,  I  •ja. 
Drumkaraught,  Lands  of,  4. 
Drumlochimocht,  Lands  of,  348. 
Drummelzier,  Tuedys  of,  206,  207,  227. 

,,  Thane's  Castle  of,  206,  207. 

Duff,  Mary,  152. 
Dufferin,  Earl  of,  152. 
Dunbar,  Siege  of,  289. 

„       House  of,  v. 

,,       Arms  of,  37. 

„       Earls  of  March,  xxv. 

„       Alexander,  of  West  Grange,  78. 

,,       Sir  David,  of  Cockburn,  xxvi.,  47,  308. 

„          Mariota,  his  Daughter,  47,  308. 

,,       Doctor,  96. 

,,       George,  Earl  of  March,  43. 

,,          George,  his  Son,  43. 

„      Marjorie,  Wife  of  Sir  John  Swinton,  308. 

,,       Master  of,  45. 

,,       Patrick,  Earl  of,  3,  29. 

,,       Patrick,  first  Earl  of  March,  9. 

„       Patrick,  second  Earl  of  March,  9. 

,,      Patrycke,  got  Cocburnes-peth,  xxi. 

„       Patrick,  of  Biel,  262. 

,,  Elizabeth,  his  Widow,  262. 

Helen,   his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of 
Clerkington,  115,  262. 

„      Burning  of  Town  of,  125. 
Duncan,  King  of  Cumbria,  iv. 
Duncane  Geillis  plays  the  Jew's  Trump,  145. 
Dundas,  House  of,  v.,  xii. 

,,       David,  of  Priestinche,  296. 

,,       Henry,  Lord  Melville,  152. 

„        Sir  Robert  [Lord  Arniston],  103,  151. 

Martha,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Archibald  Cockburn  of 

Cockpen,  103,  151. 
,,        Sir  Robert,  of  Dunira,  152. 


Dundas,  Margaret  de.  Wife  of  Alexander  Cockburn  ol   Lang- 
ton,  54,  55. 

Dundalk,  Battle  of,  168. 
Dunfermline,  Abbot  of,  343,  345.       , 
Dunmanayne,  39,  217. 
Duns  of  Duns,  55. 

,,     Patrick,  55. 

,,     Castle  and  Estate  of,  324. 

,,     Mains  of,  311. 

Dunsyar,  Sir  Patrick  Hepburne  de,  60. 
Duntze,  Sir  John,  Baronet,  104. 
„  James,  his  Son,  104. 

Durward,  Alan,  the  Justiciary,  viii.,  165. 
Dysert,  Town  of,  346. 
Dyy,  Forest  of,  262,  283. 

ECCLES,  Parish  of,  10,  167. 

„  Hugh,  of  Kildonan,  72. 

Edgar,  John  [Edzeare],  of  Wedderlie,  294. 
,,       John  of,  321. 
,,       Marie,  149. 
,,       Robert,  his  Father,  32 1 . 
,,       Sir  Patrick,  294. 
,,       Family  of,  294. 
, ,       Arms  of,  295. 
Edington,  David,  of  Clarybarde,  136. 

,,         of  that  Ilk,  136. 
Edinburgh,  Town,  Siege  of,  257. 

„         Castle,  Siege  of,  xxiii. 

Edmonstone,  Feuds  of  the  Family  with  Wauchopes,  66,  272. 
,,  John  of,  66,  298. 

,.  Sir  John  of,  298. 

,,  of  Wowmat,  294 

Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  9. 
Eleanor,  Princess  of  Brittany,  19. 
Ellem,  Family  of,  289. 
,,       Barony  of,  147. 
,,       Elizabeth,  289. 

David,  of  Renton,  292. 
,.  Janet,  his  Daughter,  292. 

George,  of  Buttirdene,  76. 
,       John  of,  289. 
,      Ninian,  289. 
,,       Richard,  289. 
Elibank,  Lord,  97. 
Elliott,  Gilbert,  of  Stobbs,  97. 
,,  John,  his  Son,  97. 

,,          Margaret,  his  Daughter,  97. 
,,       Lawis-John,  122. 
„       John,  of  ye  Park,  xxix. 
Elphinstone,  Andree,  de  Selmys,  265. 

»  Fourth  Lord  Elphinstone,  85. 

Helen,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  W.  Cockburne, 

Baronet  of  Langton,  85,  315. 
, ,          James,  one  of  the  Octavians,  280. 
Engagers,  The,  85. 
Erskine,  Alexander,  Lord,  163. 
,,  Robert,  his  Son,  163. 

"        Harry,  154. 
,,       Thomas  "  Areskyn  de  Dwn,"  122,  163. 


INDEX. 


Erskine,  Thomas,  Lord,  163. 

Ettrick  Forest,  14,  163,  182,  184,  187. 

Evesham,  Battle  of,  21. 

Euermeles,  Philip  de,  of  Romanno,  199. 

Ewart,  John,  of  Skifftonholme,  193. 

Ewyas,  Pedigree  of,  361. 

FAIRHOLM,  John,  of  Craigiehall,  150. 

,,  Sophia,  his  Daughter,  Marchioness  of  Annan- 

dale,  150. 

,,  Robina,  Wife  of  Archibald  Cockburn,  150. 

Falkirk,  Battle  of,  vi. 
Fallethaugh  of  Drumkaraught,  4. 
Fane,  The  Rev.  Frederick,  of  Moyles  Court,  108. 
Faw,  James,  Gentleman,  of  Dunbar,  301. 
Fawside,  Sir  Roger  of,  40. 
,,         Thomas  of,  276. 
,,         Lands  of  Littil  Fawside,  229. 
„         Easter  Hamilton  of,  279. 
Fenton,  William,  Lord  of,  223. 
Ferlington,  Walter  de,  8. 
Fernie  of  that  Ilk,  350. 
,,          Elizabeth,   his  Daughter,  Wife  of  John  Cockburn  of 

Trettoun,  349. 

,,      Barbara,  Wife  of  Thomas  Lumisden,  Parson  of  Kinkell,35O. 
Ferrers,  Sir  William  de,  337  (the  Father) ;  Alynora,  his  Wife, 

337,  338. 

, ,         William,  Earl  of  Derby,  337. 
„  Alianora,  his  Daughter,  337. 

,,        Wodeham  Ferrers,  Manor  of,  338. 
Fielding,  Lady  Mary,  86. 
Fife,  Duncan,  Earl  of,  343,  344. 
,,     Johanna,  Countess  of,  344. 
„     Malcolm,  Earl  of,  343. 
,,     Earl  of,  at  Coldingham,  38. 
Finemund,  William,  of  Cambusnethan,  7. 
„          Thomas  de,  5. 
„          Warin  de,  7. 
Fishwick,  Swayne,  Priest  of,  52. 
Fitz- Piers,  Geoffrey,  Earl  of  Essex,  18,  363,  Note. 
Fitz-Robert  Fitz-Waldeve,  Hugh,  of  Biggar,  217. 
Fleming  of  Biggar  and  Cumberland,  7. 
,,       James,  192. 
„       John,  Lord,  208. 
„        Malcolm,  Lord,  193,  197,  208. 
,,        Mary,  282. 
,,        Margaret,  282. 

Fleuria,  Widow  of  Sir  Adam  of  Quinton,  I. 
Flodden,  Battle  of,  56,  61. 
Fogo,  Kirk  of,  295,  300,  362. 
,,     Bridge  at,  297. 
,,     Lands  in  [Foghou],  30x3. 
Fontaine,  called  Cockburn,  63,  64. 

,,         Gabrielle  de,  Baronne  de  Villeneuve,  62,  64. 
Fontenoy,  Battle  of,  101. 
Fordall,  Barony  of,  348. 
Foreman,  John,  302. 

,,  William,  of  Wedderburn,  302. 
„  Jeane,  Wife  of  D.  Milne,  302. 
,,  Formans  of  Hutton,  302. 


Forgandenny,  Lands  of,  71. 

Forrester,   Caroline,    Baroness,   Wife  of  George  Cockburn  of 

Ormiston,  158. 

Fortescue,  Honourable  Arthur,  108. 
Foulden,  67. 

Foulis,  Sir  James,  of  Colinton,  304,  311. 
Foxhall,  Williamson  of,  286. 
French  of  Thorniedykes,  323. 
Fraser  of  Neidpath  and  Oliver,  161. 

,,      Alexander,  of  Strichen,  357,  Note  IX. 

,,      Egidia  [Gelis],  Wife  of  Cockburu  of  Henderland,  176. 

,,       Katherine,  of  Fruid,  177,  199,  207. 

„       Richard,  176. 

,,       Sir  Simon,  Lord  of  Tweeddale,  8,  198,  2OO. 

,,      Sir  William,  of  Overtoun,  176. 
Fruid  Burn,  199. 

,,          Tweedy  of,  208. 
Fundy,  Bay  of,  87. 

GALA,  Water  of,  178. 

Galbraith,  Robert,  of  Easter  Winschelis,  290. 

„  Margaret,  his  Daughter,  262,  290. 

Galloway,  Alan,  Lord  of,  357,  Note  IV. 

,,         Fosse  of,  7. 
Gavin.  Mr.,  of  Langton,  97,  109. 

,,          Mary  Turner,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  first  Marquess  of 

Breadalbane,  109. 

Geddes  of  Rachan,  Family  of,  201,  202. 
„      Charles  of,  20x3. 

,,          Janet,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  G.  Cockburn  of  Hender- 
land, 200. 

,,      James,  of  Rachan,  200. 
,,      James,  of  Kirkurd,  203. 
,        James,  of  Glenhegdon  slain,  206. 
, ,      John,  of  Geddes,  202. 
,,      Matthew,  of  Geddes,  203. 
,,      St.  Mary  del  Geddes,  Chapel  of,  2O2. 
Gelre,  Armorial  de,  41. 
Gertranky,  House  of,  344. 
Gibson,  Sir  Alexander,  of  Durie,  304. 
Gifford,  Alexander  [Giffert],  Rector  of  Mailvin,  263. 
„       James,  of  Scheriffhal,  261,  263,  269. 
,,  Beatrix,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  William  Cockburn  of 

Newhall,  263. 
, ,  Margaret,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  James  Cockburn  of 

Clerkington,  269. 

,,  Margaret,  Wife  of  James  Tuedy,  220. 

,,       William,  Uncle  of  Lord  Morton,  269. 
Giles,  St.,  Church  of,  312,  313. 

,,      Hospital  of,  Durham,  127. 

Gilmour,  Sir  Alexander,  of  Craigmillar,  Baronet,  92. 
,,         Sir  Charles,  of  Craigmillar,  92,  157. 
,,         Sir  John,  of  Craigmillar,  Baronet,  92,  282. 
,,         Walter  Little,  of  Craigmillar,  92. 
Claim's,  Lady,  191,  195. 
Glen,  Lands  of,  117,  180,  22O. 
,,     Christian  of,  180,  220. 
„     Richard  de,  177. 
„     Sarraof,  181. 
Glencoe,  Massacre  of,  101. 


INDEX. 


38* 

Glcnnyslancl,  Estate  of,  J8o. 
Glenagis,  The  Lady,  xiv. 
Glendonwyn,  John,  122. 

Matthew,  of  Glcnrath,  201. 
Glenkerry,  Lands  of,  173. 
Glenkirk,  Lands  of,  2OI. 

„       Portcous  of,  2O  I. 
Glenquholm,  Barony  of,  177. 

Englishmen  brought  to,  196. 
Gloves'  Tribute  of  White,  222. 
Goodtrees,  Lands  of,  98. 
Gordon,  Adam  de,  II,  15. 
Gosford,  Lands  of,  91. 
Gospatric,  The  Earl,  iv.,  28. 
Gourlay,  Alexander,  of  Kincraig,  121. 
„        Alanus  de,  121. 
„        John  of,  121. 
„        Simon  of,  121. 

William  of,  121,  285. 
Govane,  John,  of  Cardrona,  214. 
„       John,  248. 
„       Thomas,  248. 
Graham,  Sir  William,  of  Braco,  71. 

Sir  John  de,  33. 
Grant,  James,  of  Moyness,  149. 

Margaret,  his  Daughter,  149. 
Granville,  Mary,  Mrs.  Delaney,  86. 
Greenlaw,  Barony  of,  73,  299. 

„        Dene  Brounfield  of,  294. 
„        Redpath  of,  294. 
„        Parish  of,  73. 
Greenrigg,  Lands  of,  309. 
Grey,  Sir  Thomas,  48. 

,,     Lord,  124. 

Grimston,  James  Luckyn,  Viscount,  159. 
Gynes,  Ingleram  de,  218. 

HADDINGTON,  Town  of,  burnt,  125. 

,,  Constable,  Hereditary,  of,  114. 

Fourth  Earl  of,  155. 
Haitlie,  George,  of  Hadland,  71. 
,,        of  Mellerstain,  71. 
„        of  Lambden,  294. 
Haldane,  Gleneagles,  Family  of,  156. 

"       George  Cockburn  of  [called  Haldane],  156. 
Haknakel-Teldun,  Lands  of,  36. 
Halket,  David,  of  Pitferrane,  343. 
Halyburton,  Henry  de,  7. 

„          Sir  John  [Dominus  de  Dirleton],  49,  221,  339. 
„  Sir  John,  48. 

,,  Patrick,  56. 

,,  Philip  de,  4. 

„          Thomas,  48. 

,,          Margaret,  Wife  of  Sir  William  Cockburn  of  Lang- 
ton,  48. 

,,          Six  brothers  Halyburton  of  Scotland,  338. 
Halsyngton,  Barony  of,  10,  178. 
Halthornsyke,  Lands  of,  262,  275,  283,  284. 
Hambye,  Fortress  of,  171. 
Hamilton,  Sir  Alexander,  of  Innerwick,  223. 


Hamilton,  Anna,  Duchess  of,  70. 

Archibald  Rowan,  of  Killeleagh  Castle,  152. 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  132. 
Christian,  Wife  of  Sir  Mungo  Murray  of  Hlebo,  304. 
Sir  David,  of  Fingalton,  139. 

George,  of  Preston,  his  Son,  139. 
,,         George  of,  Preston,  279. 
James,  Earl  of  Arran,  132. 

David,  his  Son,  132. 
James,  of  Fynnart,  139. 
Sir  James  John,  of  Woodbrooke,  County  Tyrone, 

Baronet,  106. 

,,          James,  of  Libbevton,  246. 
James  of  Kincavil,  273. 
James,  of  Hill,  266,  349. 

Marie,  Wife  of  Robert  Cockburn  of  Buttirdene,  279. 
Lady   Susannah,    Wife    of    Adam  Cockburn,    Lord 

Ormiston,  155. 

,,          Jane,  Sister  of  Arran,  239. 
„          Sir  John,  of  Skirling,  241. 

Marion,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  James  Cockburn  in 

Claverhill,  241. 

„          Sir  John,  of  Preston,  279. 
,,          John,  of  Newton,  271. 
„          John,  of  Samuelston,  68. 

John,  of  Easter  Fawside,  279. 

Joan,  Wife  of  Alexander  Lindsay  of  Dunrod,  139.  ' 

of  Briggs,  272. 

,,          Patrick,  of  Preston,  147. 

,,          Sir  William,  of  Whitelaw,  Justice-Clerk,  157. 
Hardaikeris  [Hardacres],  Brownfield  of,  260. 
Harperdean,  Lands  of,  150,  260. 
Hardwick,  Earl  of,  105. 
Hardy,  Mr.,  164. 
Hastang,  Robert,  14. 
Hastings,  Thomas  de,  21. 

„        Battle  of,  1 8. 
Haulert,  Sir  Nicolas,  1 14. 
Hawick,  Barony  of,  II,  183. 
Hawkins,  Rev.  Charles,  105. 
Hawden-Stank,  Commissioners  at,  1 18. 
Hawthornsyke — See  Halthornsyke. 
Hay,  Alexander,  of  Drummelzier  and  Duns,  328. 

„    Father  Augustin,  266,  359,  360. 

,,    Sir  David  de  Haya,  of  Yesthir,  178. 

,,    Edmunde  de  Haia,  178. 

,,    George,  of  Minzeane,  238. 

,,    Sir  George,  of  Barra,  359. 

„    Grizell,  153,  323,  329. 

„    James,  Lord  of  Yestir,  249. 

„    John,  Lord  of  Yestir,  178. 

„    John,  Lord  of,  Earl  of  Tweeddale,  192,  208. 

„    John,  of  Smithfield,  244,  249. 

,,        John,  his  Son,  249. 

,,    John  ye  Hay  of  Yestir,  180. 

,,    Philip  de  la  Haye,  171. 

,,    Sir  Robert,  of  Linplum,  285. 

„        Mary,  his  Sister,  Wife  of  Sir  James  Kinloch,  Baronet  of 
Gilmerton,  285. 

„    William,  of  Linplum,  147. 


INDEX. 


3»3 


Hay,  William,  of  Tallo,  178,  215. 
,,    William,  Master  of  Yester,  209. 
„    William,  Lord  Hay,  of  Yester,  269. 
Heath,  John,  of  Keppyer,  127. 
,,       John,  his  Son,  127. 
,,        Elizabeth,  Wife  of  John  Tempest,  128. 
Henderland,  in  Rodonna,  5,  14,  162. 
,,  Charter  of,  171. 

„  Castle  of,  189. 

,,  Chapel  of,  164. 

,,  Lady's  Seat  at,  192. 

Hepburne,  Family  of,  44,  45. 

Crest  of,  356,  Note  VII. 
„          Adam,  of  Craggis,  270,  355,  Note  V. 
,,          Adam,  younger  of  Hales,  44,  315. 
,,  Agnes,  his  Daughter,  315. 

,,          Adam,  of  Humbie,  148. 
,,          Sir  Adam,  of  Humbie,  153. 
„  Janet,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  John  Cockburn   of 

Ormiston,  153. 

,,          Adam,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  122. 
,,          Sir  Alexander,  of  Whitsome,  314,  315. 
„  Helen,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Alexander  Cockburn 

of  Cockburn,  315,  359. 
,,  Jeane,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  Patrick  Hume  of 

Polwarth,  303,  316. 
,,          Archibald,  and  Mariota  Normanville  of  Gargunnock, 

his  Wife,  60. 

„  Alexander,  their  Son,  60. 

,,  Mariota,  their  Daughter,  Wife  of  Alexander  Cock- 

burn,  younger  of  Langton,  60. 
,,          David,  of  Humbie,  326. 
„  Jeane,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  William  Cockburn  of 

Cockburn,  326. 

„          Elizabeth,  Prioress  of  Haddington,  68. 
„         James,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  Duke  of  Orkney,  xxx.,  67, 

135.  3H- 

„         John,  younger  of  Humbie,  and  Elizabeth  Cockburn, 
his  Wife,  326. 

„          Margaret,  Wife  of  John  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  121. 

,,          Patrick,  Lord  of  Halis  and  Auldhamstokkis,  43,  315. 

„  Marjorie,  his  Daughter,   Wife   of  Sir    Alexander 

Cockburn  of  Langton,  43. 

,,         Sir  Patrick,  Dominus  de  Dunsyar,  Sheriff  of  Berwick- 
shire, 60. 

,,         Patrick,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  76,  122,  125. 

,,          Sir  Patrick,  of  Waughton,  222,  270,  271,  320. 

,,  Margaret,   his   Daughter,  Wife  of  Thomas  Cock- 

burn  of  Clerkington,  271. 

„  Mariota,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Patrick  Quhytelaw 

of  Quhytelaw,  222. 

,,          Patrick,  of  Whitecastle,  and  Margaret  Cockburn,  his 
Wife,  68. 

, ,        Patrick,  of  Beanston,  and  Helen  Cockburn,  his  Wife,  279. 

„          Robert,  of  Keith-Marischall,  and  Jean  Cockburn,  his 
Wife,  148. 

„          Robert,  Advocate,  299. 

,,          Thomas,  Minister  of  Oldhamstocks,  316. 

,,          Quarter,  alias  Whitsun,  314,  315,  317. 
Herdmanston,  Barony  of,  139. 


Heriot,  James,  126. 

Hermitage,  Castle  of,  162,  170. 

Merries,  William,  Lord  Herries,  of  Terreglis,  245. 

,,  Agnes,  his  Daughter,  Wifeofthe  Master  of  Maxwell,  245. 

„  Katherine,  his  Daughter,  Wifeof  Stuart  of  Garlics,  245 

„  Janet,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  James  Cockburn  of 

Skirling,  206,  245,  246,  247. 
Heryng,  Family  of,  221. 

,,        Adam  [Harrang],  of  Borthwic,  &c.,  222. 
,,  Petronilla,  his  Daughter,  222,  341. 

,,        Sir  James,  of  Cluny,  222. 
, ,        James,  of  Tulliebole  and  Upsettlington,  222. 
„        Sir  John,  of  Edmeresdene,  County  Berwick,  73,  221. 
,,        Sir  John,  of  Edmeston,  County  Lanark,  222,355,  NoteV. 
,,        The  Lady  Marie,  222. 
,,        Patrick,  forfeited,  222. 
Heton,  Adam  de,  5. 

,,      Richard  de,  5. 
Hertford,  His  Raid,  xxviii.,  124,  125,  154. 

,,         Treasonable  intercommuning  with,  124,  126. 
Heudis,  Lands  of,  39,  216,  217. 
Hill,  Lands  of  (le),  266. 

,,    Wardlaw  of,  Isabelle  Cockburn,  his  Wife,  266,  349. 
,,    Hamilton  of,  Margaret  Cockburn,  his  Wife,  349. 
Hillary,  Emma  de  Sancto  Hillario,  23,  24. 
,,      James  de,  24. 

,,  Matillidis  de,  Countess  of  Clare,  his  Daughter,  24. 

Hirsell,  Estate  of,  xxviii.,  289. 
Hislop,  Archibald,  of  Monckton,  252. 
Hogg,  Robert,  1 1 6. 
Holyrood  Abbey,  22,  26,  124. 
Home  or  Hume,  Family  of,  v. 

„  Adam,  Rector  of  Polwarth,  320. 

,,  Alexander,  second  Lord  Home,  55. 

,,  Anna,  his   Daughter,  Wife   of   Sir  William 

Cockburn  of  Langton,  55,  61. 
„  Alexander,  third  Lord,  58,  65,  310,  311. 

,,  Alexander,  fifth  Lord,  151,  245,  289. 

,,  Alexander,  sixth  Lord,  120. 

,,  Alexander,  of  Renton,  and  Margaret  Cockburn, 

his  Wife,  71,  292. 

,,  Sir  Alexander,  of  Reston,  50. 

,,  Alexander,  of  Abbey  St.  Bathan's,  299. 

,,  Alexander,  of  Manderston,  141,  318. 

,,  Janet,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Sir  John  Cock- 

burn  of  Ormiston,  141,  318. 
,,  Margaret,    his   Daughter,   Wife   of  William 

Cockburn  of  Cockburn,  318. 

„  George,  his  Son,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  318. 

,,  Anna,  Wife  of  Patrick  Cockburn  of  East  Borth- 

wick,  76. 
,,  Anna,   their    Daughter,    Wife    of   Thomas 

Baillie  of  Polkemmet,  72,  322. 
,,  Cuthbert,  of  Fast  Castle,  57. 

,,  Sir  David,  of  Wedderburn,  killed  at  Flodden, 

54.  56,  309. 
„  His  Sons,  the  seven  Spears  of  Wedderburn, 

viz. — 

I.   George,  younger  of  Wedderburn,  killed 
at  Flodden,  56. 


INDEX. 


Home  or  Hume— The  seven  Spears  of  Wedderburn— continue,!. 

2.  Sir  David,  of  Wedderburn,  xiv.,  54,  197, 

232.  3'°.  3»- 

3.  Alexander,  of  Mamlerston,  318. 

4.  John,  of  Blackadder,  65,  80,  313,  320, 

321- 

5.  Robert,  65,  So. 

6.  Andrew. 

-,.  Patrick  [George],  of  Broomhouse,  311. 

8.  Bartholomew,  of  Simprin  and  Borg,  84. 

9.  Isobel,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  William 

Cockburn  of  Cockburn,   84,   308, 

309,  358- 
10.       Marion,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  John 

Swinton  of  Swinton,  82. 
„  Sir  David,  of  Wedderburn,  321. 

,,  Sir  David  [Lord  Crossrigg],  72,  322. 

,,  David  Hume,  of  Godscroft,  82,  84. 

,,  David,  of  Harcars,  299. 

„  Margaret,  his  Daughter,  299. 

,,  George,  of  Wedderburn  [A.D.  1480],  54. 

„  Isobel,    his    Daughter,     Wife    of   Patrick 

Cockburn  of  East  Borthwick,  54,  55. 
,,  George,  of  Wedderburn  [A.D.  1590],  296. 

,,  George,  of  Wedderburn  [A.D.  1715],  302. 

,,  Margaret,  his  Daughter. 

,,  George,  Earl  of  Dunbar. 

, ,  Sir  George,  Sheriff,  72. 

,,  George,  of  Gunsgreen,  302. 

„  Jean,  his  Daughter,  302. 

„  George,  of  Spot,  311,  314,  318. 

i,  Janet,  his  Daughter,  Wife  of  Alexander  of 

Manderston,  318. 

,,  Sir  George,  of  Manderston,  84,  281. 

„  George,  of  Ayton,  313,  324. 

,,  Isobelle  Hume,  Prioress  of  Coldstream,  289. 

,,  James,  of  Framepath,  299. 

,,  James,  of  Slegden,  296. 

,,  John,  of  Blackadder,  80. 

Janet,    his    Daughter,    Wife     of   William 

Cockburn  of  Langton,  80. 
,,  Sir  John,  of  North  Berwick,  322. 

Julian,   divorced  Wife   of  Sir  John   Ker    of 

Hirsell  and  Liteldene,  223. 
Margaret,  Prioress  of  North  Berwick,  60,  198. 
„  Mariota    de    Home,    Wife    of    Sir    Patrick 

Edgar,  294. 

,,  Ninian,  of  Billie,  95,  104. 

,,  Patrick,  of  Renton,  71. 

Elizabeth,  his    Daughter,   Wife  of  Patrick 

Cockburn  of  East  Borthwick,  71. 
,,  Patrick,  of  Wedderburn,  302. 

Sir  Patrick,  of  Ayton,  320,  321. 
,,  Patrick,  of  Billie,  104,  302. 

,,  Sir  Patrick,  of  Polwarth,  303. 

Jeane,   his  Daughter,    Wife   of  Christopher 

Cockburn  of  Choicelee,  303,  320. 
Sophia,    his    Daughter,    Wife    of    Joseph 
Johnston  of  Hilton  in  the   Merse,   «8 
Note  XV.  W  ' 


Home  or  Hume,  Patrick,  of  Huttonhall,  322. 
Patrick,  of  Fast  Castle,  76. 
Thomas,  of  Langschaw,  76. 
William,  executed  with  his  Brother,  Lord 

Home,  by  Albany,  58,  65,  310. 
William,  Earl  of,  99. 
,.  William,  King's  Stabler,  223 

„  William,  of  Lochtullo,  311. 

Milne-Home,  David,  of  Milne-Graden,  2. 
,,  David,  of  Wedderburn,  302. 

Hope,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart.,  of  Craigiehall,  318. 
Hop-Kelloch,  Lands  of,  39,  217. 
Hop-Pringle,  Janet,  Prioress  of  Coldstream,  289. 

Elizabeth,  Prioress  of  Coldstream,  358,  Note  XIV. 
„  Thomas  de,  112. 

Horndean,  Lands  of,  23,  36. 

,,          Theines  and  Drengs  of,  52. 
Horne-Huntaris  Lands,  209,  210. 
Horde,  Adam  de,  10. 
Horsburgh  of  that  Ilk,  72,  1 80. 

,,          Alexander,  of  Harcaris,  248. 
,,          Janet,  182. 
Hoseason,  Captain,  R.N.,  108. 
Houndwood,  Estate  of,  96,  99. 
Houston,  Anne,  her  three  Husbands,  157. 

,,         of  that  Ilk,  272. 
Hude,  Robert,  294. 
Hudson,  Thomas,  Letter  to,  277. 
Humbie,  Lady  Glenagis,  Daughter  of  Laird  of,  xiv. 
,,         Lawson  of,  142. 
,,         Hepburne  of,  148,  153. 
Hunter,  W.  K.,  his  account  of  Coldingham  Priory,  I. 

,,      Robert,  of  Polmood,  181,  197. 
Huntly,  Hamlet  of,  u. 
Earl  of,  57. 

IDDESLEIGH,  Earl  of,  74. 

Hay,  Earl  of,  155. 

Inchgall,  Chapel  of,  348. 

Inglis,  John,  of  Manir  and  Branxholm,  172,  173. 

,,       Sir  James,  Bart.,  of  Cramond,  157. 

„      Sir  John,  sixth  Baronet  of  Cramond,  157. 

„       Sir   Robert,    of    Branxholm,   afterwards   of  Murdieston 

173,  174- 

Inchgarvie  [Ynchgarne],  Island,  125. 
Innerskip,  Auld  Kirk  of,  140. 
Innes,  Cosmo,  xii.,  117. 

,,      William,  of  Sandyside,  138. 
JARDANE,  Alexander,  of  Applegirth,  181. 
K.  James  the  Fifth,  185,  186,  187,  188,  189,  193,  194. 
K.  James  the  Sixth,  Birth  and  Baptism  of,  242. 
Jedburgh,  Hoist  at,  180. 
Joceline,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  332. 
Johnston,  Joseph,  of  Hilton,  150,  358,  Note  XV. 
Johnstone,  William,  third  Marquess  of  Annandale,  150. 
Johnson,  Rowland  [Master  Mayson,  Berwick],  255. 
KALCHOU,  Abbey  of,  iv. 
Kambusnay